


Atados

by felinaandthecooks



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Smut, F/M, One Night Stands, Snowed In, doesn't last long - Freeform, kinda angsty, they're so soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:41:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 61,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23270107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felinaandthecooks/pseuds/felinaandthecooks
Summary: Sergio Marquina and Raquel Murillo are work colleagues who are rivaling for a promotion. One night, at an office party, they both get drunk and sleep together. Raquel wakes up mortified and ready to leave, until a storm hits and the news report a state of emergency – everyone should stay put for the next two days.
Relationships: Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina
Comments: 425
Kudos: 812





	1. Aquí, Ahora

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! Hope you are all staying home, safe and sound, and that all of your loved ones are safe as well.
> 
> We are living through some hard moments right now and when this idea came I just ran with it and wrote the first chapter to give you a good distraction during your quarantine.

Raquel hated office parties, but _damn_ if the booze wasn’t top notch.

This year, there was even the upper side that the end of the year party included an all-expenses-paid weekend trip to Galicia. So, yes, she would much rather be at home in sweatpants watching _Home Alone_ with Paula and Mariví, but she also _really_ wanted that promotion that was being dangled in front of her.

The only person standing in her way? Sergio Marquina.

She took a sip from her drink as she watched him talking and charming their fellow directors and some senior executives, her eyes unknowingly narrowing in his direction as if it could shoot daggers with one small blink. It would almost leave a bittersweet taste in her lips, if it wasn’t the finest cava she had ever tasted.

“… Hello? Raquel?” She simultaneously became aware of Ágata’s voice next to her at the same time her friend snapped her fingers in front of her face, startling her to face her direction. “Did you hear a word I said?”

“No," Raquel quipped, ashamed. “Sorry,” she amended “I skipped dinner and I’m honestly a little spaced out from the wine already.”

Ágata crooked her head in her direction, her eyes piercing Raquel’s like she could read her thoughts.

“Sure,” the brunette replied, leaning against the same counter Raquel was leaning on to face the same direction she was. Ágata stirred the olive toothpick in her martini as she saw directors Marquina, Suaréz, González and CRO Prieto laughing over something as they drank whisky. “Fucking boy’s club,” she muttered in anger.

Raquel rolled her eyes, then looked at her with a question behind her eyes, “Do you honestly think I’m on the run? I mean, Sergio’s over there and they're probably talking about their summer houses in Marbella or which one of them is cheating on their wives. With me they would probably just talk about projections and acquisitions for the next quarter.”

Ágata sighed loudly, “I know it’s an uneven ground, but they have to consider you for it. You’re the main director in Operations, he’s in Information.”

“I mean, weirder shit has happened in this company and you know it,” Raquel pondered and Ágata had to nod in agreement. In one movement, Raquel downed her cava with a big gulp and put it in the counter behind her. “Okay,” she said to the bartender. “I’ll have a whisky on the rocks now, Marco.”

“Jeez, you sure?” Ágata raised her eyebrows at her.

“Oh, yeah,” Raquel nodded. “I need something stronger if I’m going to have to talk amenities with them.”

After toasting with Ágata, Raquel left the comfort of the bar counter to impress the men on the other side of the room. She approached them with the most charismatic smile she could muster on her face.

“Gentlemen,” she greeted them and they turned in her direction with a disappointed look in their faces.With the exception of Sergio, who instead watched her with amusement and genuine curiosity in his eyes. “Forgive me, but I could hear Suaréz talking shit about Messi all the way from over there.”

The men laughed in a chorus – except for Sergio, who only grinned.

“I didn’t think you were a Barcelona fan,” he said, sounding surprised.

“Why, you think Real Madrid is better?” Raquel quipped back.

“Don’t you?” Sergio pressed, raising his eyebrows and looking at her in way that seemed… very, _very_ different.

“Mmm, I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong,” she mused. Suárez jumped in to say something about Barcelona’s attack strategy, but Raquel noticed Sergio’s eyes remained fixated on her, continuing to study her thoroughly – to the point where she had to avoid to look at him.

She felt less awkward when Sergio left to get another drink and, after breaking the ice, Raquel was able to engage in conversation with the group for quite a while. It was only after Prieto excused himself to talk to another Senior Executive at the party, that she excused herself as well, under the guise of smoking a cigarette.

Truth be told, Raquel hated doing the networking part of her job and she wished she could rely only on her competent job and her performance numbers to achieve the promotion. As a COO, she would have more responsibilities, yes, but the paycheck would be _much bigger_ and she would be able to make her own schedule – and both would be quite helpful for her to take care of her daughter and aging mother.

She picked up her coat and stepped out to the empty balcony. The view was stunning, she’d give them that. The balcony of the hotel ballroom the company had rented out for the celebration was just a couple of miles away from the sea. She could hear the sound of waves rolling up against the shore. However, the sky was dark, filled with clouds, and she knew the weather predicted snowfall for next morning. That also meant the rapid wind was cutting through her like a million sharp knives.

Focusing her best not to shiver – she was only wearing a dark green dress and a coat, after all –, she put a cigarette on her lips and tried to light it up.

It was proving to be a much harder task than she would have anticipated and she was already groaning in frustration when someone else joined her in the balcony.

“Ugh, shit,” she muttered under her breath in anger. 

“Wait, let me,” a familiar voice approached. She saw a pair of cupped hands protect her cigarette and lips before she saw who they belonged to.

“Thanks,” she said, finally glancing up at Sergio.

“Of course,” he said, putting his hands inside his pockets and taking in the view just as she was doing a few minutes earlier. Suddenly, he turned to her, a smile dangling on his lips, “So, what are your thoughts?”

Raquel frowned, “On what?”

“You’re not usually at these things,” he shrugged and the thought that Sergio Marquina noticed where she was or where she was not was a prospect weird enough for her to remain intrigued. “What do you think?”

Raquel studied his expression. Ever since she was transferred from the Barcelona offices, she had never really had a chance to talk to him. She had heard stories, of course, of how he was an extremely competent director, of how he mostly kept to himself outside of work and, of course, of how he was the CEO’s protege.

Still, behind his thick-rimmed glasses she couldn’t sense any malice, just sheer curiosity.

So she arched her eyebrows and tilted her head, “Honestly?”

Sergio nodded quietly, still waiting for her response.

“It feels like Starbucks,” Raquel replied.

His brows furrowed in confusion as he voiced, “What?”

She couldn’t help but smile. “You know, it’s… the same stuff every time and on Halloween they add pumpkin spice,” Raquel shrugged. “It’s like the Christmas version of every other day in the office.”

Sergio laughed and, when he did, his entire expression lit up. Raquel combed her mind for another time she had seen him laugh, but she couldn’t find it. This was the first time she had seen him do so in the last five months.

“You’re absolutely right,” he said, and although his laughter had seized, his lips and eyes were still smiling. “So what would you be doing instead? If you weren’t here?”

Raquel took a drag of her cigarette while she pondered her response, “I would be… having a spa night in my bathtub.”

She knew she shouldn’t be doing this – flirting with the man who was supposedly her competition – but she wasn’t blind. He was handsome. He had his charm. And the look on his face – a look that could only be explained, by the way he became speechless, that he was imagining her doing just that – _that look_ was priceless.

He cleared his throat, hoping to seem completely unfazed by her words.

“What are _you_ doing here?” Raquel asked, relieving him of his anxiety.

“I couldn’t get out of it even if I tried,” he shrugged.

“Yeah, right,” she muttered.

“What was that? What do you mean?” Sergio asked, his jaw clenching at her tone.

“Come on, you really expect me to buy that?”

“Why wouldn’t you buy it?”

“Because you’re at the top of the game in this company. You have years of experience, all of the contacts and you’re part of the boys’ club. You’re even coveted for the title job of my fucking department,” Raquel spat out in a drunken haze and she was certain that that was it, she had just burned herself with one of the company’s top guys.

But instead, Sergio just laughed again, “You think I’m being coveted for COO over you?”

Raquel raised her shoulders, putting out her cigarette on the trashcan, “Aren’t you?”

In response, he lifted an index finger, “You don’t like having competition.”

“Not when I’m the best one for the job, no,” she replied. Curiously, he wasn’t taken back, he just seemed… amused.

“How do you know I’m not the best man for the job?” Sergio countered.

“I don’t. But I said _best one_ , not _best man.”_

“Well, I am the best,” he nonchalantly added, a smirk invading his lips as he approached her. “Actually,” he said, his face nearly hovering over hers with how close he was. “I strive to be the best in everything I do.”

Raquel thought of a million things she could reply to that. She thought about calling him arrogant, of asking if he had heard of personal space, of telling him this was unprofessional.

But he had a devious smirk on his lips, and his beard was so well trimmed, and his eyes were so dark and pretty, and he smelt _wonderful_ like a fresh summer breeze.

So, instead, she just leaned in and kissed him.

* * *

The first thing Raquel was conscious of was a loud ringing inside her head. She felt as if her senses had been assaulted even before she had realized she was awake. Slowly, she managed to open her eyes. The light was dim, but it still managed to hurt her sight.

Her vision was blurred, and she couldn't discern where she was. It definitely wasn’t the Airbnb her assistant had rented out for her. The room walls’ were made of exposed brick, the floor was made of wood and – what was that _perfume_ she was smelling?

She suppressed a groan and closed her eyes again, attempting to remember what happened. The last thing she remembered was…

_No_.

No, no, no, no.

A solar system of no in a galactic cluster of no.

She suddenly sat on the bed, and swallowed her doubts, trying to sharpen her vision. However, it was a cold breeze that brought shivers to her spine and instantly made her nipples hard. She looked down at herself to notice she was fully, completely naked.

Steadying her breaths, she glanced over at the other side of the bed.

Sergio was laying down with his back turned to her, covered by a thick layer of blanket and, she assumed, as naked as she was. Even though he was facing away from her, she could tell it was him.

Snippets of the previous night creeped up her mind against her will. They definitely started making out in the balcony. But how did they get past the ballroom without anyone seeing them? Were they in Sergio’s Airbnb? And if so, why was it so much nicer than hers?

Due to the open floor plan, she could see the living room couch all the way from the bed. And in came another flash – _yep, definitely had sex there_. She glanced at the kitchen counter – there were memories of her leaning against that counter, that’s for sure.

She suppressed a deep sigh and, slowly, quietly, gradually began making her way out of the bed and started to put on her clothes, her back turned to the bed because she couldn’t even face the mistake she had made before she had a cup of coffee.

Then, she heard his sleepy voice from behind her, “Are you trying to sneak out?”

“Oh, hi,” she turned around, grateful she already been able to put on her underwear, untangling her dress so she could put it on.

He was still laying down in bed, resting on an elbow as he looked at her, the bed sheet covering him only from the waist down. Raquel quickly glanced at his chest and arms before looking up at his face again.

It was funny, without his glasses he looked like a completely different person. Like Superman and Clark Kent.

“I just… I didn’t want to wake you,” she lied. “And I don’t want to impose, you know, um, I should get back to pack my things and–”

“Don’t you want to have breakfast?” He asked, sitting up on the bed and stretching his arms over his head.

Raquel gulped as she watched the scene, quickly putting her dress over head so she could hide her flustered expression.

“Oh, thanks, I really do have to go, though,” she amended, pulling the skirt of her dress down.

He studied her again, just like he did the night before, with an air of amusement in his expression.

Raquel tried to zip the back of her dress, silently cursing herself for not being able to do it. Ágata had been the one help her zipping it up the previous night, when they met for drinks at her rented apartment.

“Come here, I’ll help you,” he said, pulling back the covers and putting on some wool pants that were folded in a hay basket.

She hesitated, but walked over to the other side of the bedroom. She turned herself around and he positioned himself behind her, so close that she could once again inhale his scent even with her back turned to him.

He let a finger graze the exposed skin in her back all the day down to where the zipper was.

Raquel closed her eyes, clutching her hands into a fist and resisting the urge to moan.

He zipped up her dress and used a hand to grab her hair and pull it from inside the dress, throwing it all over her right shoulder and pressing his lips against the left side of her neck.

She almost melted at his touch. However, there was a small flicker of conscience that sparked inside and she quickly took two steps forward, turning around to face him, “I should _really_ go.”

She saw his expression crumble but, instead of giving it too much thought, she turned around and headed for the living room, looking for her coat, purse and shoes.

“Raquel,” he called out, walking out into the living room as she searched the perimeter for her heels. “I’m sorry, last night it seemed like you were… I mean, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

_Aha_ – there they were. She picked them up and looked up at him, putting them on one foot at a time, “What? Oh, no, it’s fine. I did– I wanted… to have sex with you last night, it’s just that, now, in the light of day, I can see that it was a terrible idea.”

“A terrible idea,” he echoed, watching her aimlessly look for her purse.

“Yeah, the alcohol tends to cloud our judgements, right?” She replied, lifting a pillow from the couch to find her purse buried underneath.

Then, she finally glanced at Sergio, noticing he had a troubled expression.

“What?” She asked.

“Nothing,” he replied, his jaw clenched.

“Well, thank you for your… hospitality,” she said. “I’ll see you in Madrid.”

She didn’t wait for a reply, she made her way towards the front door, picked up her coat and left without looking back. She had never been more mortified. Sleeping with people she worked with was something the old Raquel would do. Not something the new, improved, only-career-and-family-oriented Raquel would. She didn’t have room for romance, for drama or workplace sexcapades for that matter.

She let out a groan as she reached the end of the stairs and pushed the exit door.

Nothing happened.

She tried again, putting all her strength against the door, and, still, nothing happened.

“ _Mierda_ ,” she muttered, glancing at the intercom beside the door. “Of course, of course the humiliation never ends,” she paused for a moment to remember from which apartment she had walked out of. It was on the second floor and the door in front of it said 202.

She tried the one labeled 201 hoping she would at least get it right on her first try.

“Yes?” His voiced echoed from the intercom.

“It’s Raquel, I can’t open the door,” she explained, rolling her eyes at her luck.

It took one second until she heard a buzz. She tried again and, still, nothing.

“Did it work?” Sergio’s voice emerged from the intercom again.

“Um, not really,” she replied, bringing a hand to her face in frustration.

“Okay, I’ll be right down.”

_Of course_. Of course the door would be jammed, because this was Raquel Murillo’s life and nothing ever came without an insane amount of struggle and undignified situations.

Sergio made his way down the stairs quickly, a set of keys in his hand.

“Sorry about that,” Raquel said, making room for him to approach the door.

He didn’t reply, focusing on fitting one of the keys in the lock and twisting it around. He tried to open the door, but nothing happened.

Then, they were startled by a loud, warning horn from the outside.

“What the fuck was that?” Raquel asked, her hands still covering her ears.

“That was a siren,” Sergio replied matter-of-factly, watching Raquel uncover her ears and narrow her eyes at him. 

“I know what _it_ was, but _what_ was it?” She asked, not even trying to hide her angry intonation.

“Your guess’ as good as mine,” he shrugged. “I’m going to have to call the janitor anyway to find out what’s wrong with the door. Let’s go upstairs and we’ll check the news, okay?”

She accepted his offer. She still couldn’t believe this was happening to her – a drunken one night stand with a fellow director was already enough, now the door was jammed and she needed to wait with him for a solution.

They walked back inside the apartment and Sergio went straight for his phone, browsing and then dialing a number he had found in his contact list.

As he waited for the janitor to answer the phone, he picked up the remote, offering it to her as she sat on the couch. She turned the TV on and started looking for a news channel. 

“He’s not picking up,” Sergio said, turning his attention to the television screen.

Raquel stopped on a local news channel that was showing a robust amount of snow.

“–this morning, the northern region of Galicia awakened with an unprecedented snow blizzard,” the news anchor announced. “The snow storm, which is being nicknamed as _White Christmas_ , has it’s communities under a large white blanket. Over the last five hours, the reports are of around two meters of snow on the cities of Coruña and Viveiro, with reports of two more meters on the way. It was officially declared a state of emergency for the next two days stressing that no citizens should leave their homes until the storm passes and snow melts off.”

Sergio couldn’t help but turn around with a smirk on his lips, “Well, Murillo, looks like you’re stuck with me for a little longer.”


	2. Salida de Emergencia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS, thank you so much for all your kind words <3 
> 
> I will reply to you all, it's just that I decided to use the quarantine to do some cleaning in my apartment and now I'm sitting in the biggest mess 😂
> 
> In the meantime, I offer you: _capitulo dos_

_Day One, 9:47 AM_

“Well, Murillo, looks like you’re stuck with me for a little longer,” she heard him say with a smirk on his face. Why was he enjoying this? Mere minutes ago he had the grumpiest face on the planet, now he was laughing at her misery.

She ignored him, pressing buttons on the remote and switching to other news channels. She couldn’t even hear what the news anchors said anymore. All she thought about was Paula.

_Here’s to one more year of playing the absent mom_ , she quietly thought, switching the channel once again.

“Maybe the next one tells a different story,” he teased.

She turned off the television and turned to him, her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed into a thin line. She furrowed her brow at his teasing smirk and simply muttered, “Fuck you”.

His smirk didn't fade, but Raquel got up from the couch, her purse dangling from her shoulder, and made her way towards the front door again.

“Where are you going? You can’t go outside, it’s a state of emergency–” His voice became distant as she cruised the building’s hallway.

No, this was not how she was going to spend the next two days. What if those two days turned into three or four? Then she would miss Christmas with Paula because of her job – and, unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the first time. She cursed herself inwardly, unlocking the window down the hall that led to the fire escape.

She was almost opening it when a hand firmly grabbed her arm.

“Sergio, let me go,” she shook her arm, relieving herself from his grip and managing to pull the window open.

To her surprise – but not his – an enormous amount of snow catapulted to their feet, pouring from the window.

They both looked outside. They couldn’t even see a palm ahead, it was all just _white_.

Taking advantage of her distraction, he moved forward, using his entire body to close the window against the blowing wind and positioning himself in front of it, facing her, an incredulous expression on his face.

“Are you _always_ like this?” He questioned.

Raquel crossed her arms in front of her chest, “Like what?”

“ _Bullheaded_ ,” he shrugged, the word coming out of his mouth like the worst insult on earth.

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” she crooked her head, quietly shaking off the snow that had gotten on her feet. She was beginning to feel very cold, but she was determined not to let him catch it.

“It _is_ a bad thing! Hence you trying to go out during a blizzard to do _what_? Perish under two meters of snow?” He asked, using a concerned tone similar to the one that she often reserved for Paula.

She looked down, and against all of her will, she knew he was right.

She knew she wasn’t in her right mind. She was lightheaded, she was hungover, she was hangry and she hadn’t had a drop of coffee in her system yet.

“ _Jesus_ , is being stuck with me for two days really such a repugnant prospect that you’d much rather freeze to death?” He continued, and the self-deprecating tone in his voice made her let out a sigh, uncrossing her arms and looking up at him with a softer, more sober expression on her face.

“No,” she denied, slowly shaking her head, and for a second he had a look of relief on his face. Until she added, in a small voice, “This isn’t about you.”

As soon as the words left her mouth she knew she had screwed up again.

She closed her eyes, hoping to avoid the look of consternation in his face, “I didn’t mean it like _that_ , I just–”

“Okay, listen,” Sergio interrupted her, placing his hands on each of her shoulders, calling out for her attention. She opened her eyes, glancing up at him. “We’re gonna go back to my apartment, I’m gonna make us something to eat and I’m sure that after some coffee you’ll be good as new. Okay?”

Raquel took a deep breath, her eyes still staring into his pleading gaze, and she noticed his thumbs were gently stroking her arms over her coat. Oddly, the sensation soothed her.

She finally nodded and he turned her around, pushing her towards his door.

“Aren’t we gonna clean that–” She cast a glance over her shoulder at the mess she had made on the hallway, but Sergio steered her forward, away from the window.

“Nope, you’re not going anywhere near that window right now,” Sergio scolded, but there was a hint of humor in his intonation and Raquel left out a weak chuckle.

She took off her coat and hung it by the door when they walked in. They took off their shoes – soberly placing them on the shoe holder this time – and went straight to the kitchen.

Raquel stood there for a moment, processing her emotions. She was ashamed, she was emotional, she was _so hungry_ and, even so, she felt some gratitude towards him.

Sergio opened the fridge and turned around to ask her, “What would you like to eat?”

“Um, whatever you got,” Raquel shrugged, her fingers grazing the white marble counter.

“Okay, I can make us some avocado toast,” he shrugged, his eyebrows raised in expectancy of her approval. 

“That’s perfect,” she gave him a small smile. “And– and coffee, right?”

Sergio couldn’t help the laughter that escaped his lips, “I couldn’t forget it.”

“Okay, just checking,” she said, finding herself smiling as well. “Can I help?”

“ _No_ , no, it’s fine,” he waved off his hand and she complied, sitting on one of the stools.

“You don’t want me around knives, do you?” She playfully asked.

“Uh, not right now, I don’t,” Sergio chuckled, cutting an avocado open.

“I don’t blame you,” Raquel sighed.

“Good, I wouldn’t want to see you angry.”

Raquel rolled her eyes, but her smile didn’t leave her lips, “I’m gonna make a phone call, okay?”

“Sure,” he muttered, focused on the task at hand.

Raquel grabbed her phone and called her mother. Her heart ached a little when she thought about Paula and how excited she was for this Christmas, but she put on a brave face as her mother picked up the phone.

“Hi, mamá. Yeah, I’m okay. I’m still in Coruña,” she paced around the living room, concentrated on the call, as Sergio kept an eye on the food and another on her. “Oh, you saw that? Yeah. Yeah, I’m safe. They’re saying two days, but I’ll let you know as soon as we’re– it’s cleared, okay? How are you? Good. Yes, put her on, please.”

Sergio noticed the exact moment Raquel's expression changed. It became softer, her eyes became brighter. Even her voice was sweeter than usual, “Hi, cariño, como estás? Really? Are you eating pancakes everyday while I’m away? But you're eating your fruits and veggies, right?”

Raquel smiled.

“Did abu show you the snow storm on TV? Yeah, I can’t even see anything from the window, it’s a white out!”

She paused, listening to her daughter and suppressing a laughter from something she had said.

“Oh, I think it would melt before I got home. That’s a great idea, we can put it in the freezer. I’ll be home as soon as I can, okay? I love you, cariño. Miss you too.”

She walked back to the stool to find a plate of two avocado toasts, perfectly grilled, a glass of what seemed like passionfruit juice and a cup of warm coffee waiting for her.

“Thank you,” she softly said, watching him place his own breakfast next to hers and walk around the counter to sit on the remaining stool. She took a big sip of coffee before letting out a small, glad sigh, “Really, _thank you_.” 

Sergio chuckled and his expression became a little hesitant before he turned to her, “I, uh, I didn’t know you have a daughter. What’s her name?”

“Paula,” she replied mechanically.

Sergio didn’t miss a beat, raising his eyebrows, “You don’t have to talk about her if you don’t want to.” 

Raquel looked at him, pondering if she was comfortable opening that part of her life for him. The only other person at work who knew about her personal life was Ágata, and it was only after a couple of months of closely working together.

But she was sitting in Sergio’s kitchen, she had already had sex with him and he had already had to snap her out of a stupid decision.

So she just nodded and said, “I do want to, though. I really miss her.”

“How old is she?”

“Five. She’s turning six next fall,” Raquel smiled, taking a bite of her toast and scrunching her face as she ruminated it’s taste. “This is _really_ good."

“Ah,” Sergio shook his head. “ _Cuando hay hambre, no hay pan duro._ ”

Raquel smiled, swallowing her bite as she observed him.

“Paula is addicted to pancakes,” she confessed. “She’d eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I cut her a deal that, as long as she ate her fruits and veggies, she could have pancakes three times a week. But while the cat’s away…”

“Your mom is spoiling her,” Sergio presumed, taking a sip of his juice.

“ _Rotten_ ,” Raquel laughed. “She asked me to bring her a jar of snow. I told her it would melt away and she insisted we could put in the freezer and it would be good as new.” 

“Oh, you can make her fake snow with shaving cream and baking soda,” he proposed, his eyes glistening with excitement.

“Really?” Raquel snorted.

“Really – and it’s even cold because when you mix sodium bicarbonate with the compounds in the shaving cream it produces an endothermic reaction,” he explained, rather theatrically, and she had to purse her lips not to laugh at his excitement.

“Noted,” she smiled. “I’ll give it a try.” 

“So do you always cut deals with your daughter?” He asked, intrigued.

“No, sometimes it’s the other way around,” Raquel smiled, in between bites. “When she was three, we were home one night and she turned to me and said, ‘mamá, let’s make a deal: I’ll have a chocolate milk and you’ll have a wine’.”

They both laughed at the anecdote.

“A negotiator in the making,” Sergio mused. “I guess it really is in the blood.”

“What do you mean?” Raquel asked, throwing the last bite of her toast in her mouth and savoring it slowly. She knew he was talking about her professionally and she was curious to know what he had heard about her.

“Well, just before you got transferred all the Senior Executives were going on and on about this shark negotiator in Barcelona and how it was time to bring you in,” he shrugged.

Raquel had to smile proudly at that. So she _was_ being recognized for her hard work.

“Your reputation precedes you,” Sergio added, smiling.

When she heard those words, however, Raquel knew what was coming.

_Your reputation precedes you_.

An avalanche of bad memories cascaded down on her. She felt as if her chest was compacting itself, tightening around her heart. Her vision became blurry, she felt her hands and legs begin to shake. Her breathing was getting more and more shallow by the second.

She wasn’t in the kitchen, she wasn’t in Sergio’s apartment, she wasn’t even in Coruña anymore.

She was six years ago, with her back against the wall, her arms shielding her face, trying to shrink herself into the smallest being on Earth while Paula cried in her crib.

“Raquel?” Sergio asked, concerned, raising a hand to touch her shoulder.

But before he could reach her, she climbed out of the stool and ran to the bathroom, locking herself in.

At least this way, she would be alone.


	3. Trato

_Day One, 10:53 AM_

Sergio had never been so confused in his entire life. His entire career revolved around information and knowledge and yet none of the information and knowledge he had about Raquel could have prepared him for this morning.

In a little over an hour, she had already tried to sneak out after spending the night, escape through the fire emergency exit during a snow storm and out of nowhere, in the middle of a perfectly normal conversation, had now locked herself in his bathroom.

He was at a loss of what to do.

Should he comfort her?

Should he leave her alone?

_Calm down and focus,_ he told himself. _You are a man of facts, act like it._

So he combed his mind for every piece of information he had on Raquel: she was only one year younger than him, she had been working at Mediazio Global for the past five years and a half, she had a glowing recommendation from Ángel Rubio, her coworker in the company she used to work in (despite leaving said company under extremely covered up circumstances that even Sergio couldn’t figure out), and she was easily the best negotiator the company had ever seen.

In her rather short time at the company, she had been able to close deals that amounted over 34 billion euros in revenue alone. No wonder she was being coveted for the COO position now that Tejada was retiring.

It was down to either her or Sergio, mostly because of CEO's Otávio de Follonosa's pressure than Sergio's own desires. He had knowledge of the Operations sector, yes, just as he had _knowledge_ of every other department in the company. That was his job.

If anything, he would be happy and fulfilled with the role of Chief of Knowledge Officer. He would much rather manage the company's intelectual capital and knowledge. He was a man of processes, of organization, of information technology and resources.

He was not a man who would close deals and buy out smaller media companies and their products.

But Otávio was very demanding and it was bad enough that Andrés didn't want anything to do with his father's business. That role had been delegated to Sergio and in Otávio's mind a CKO was not as important as a COO.

He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. This was not the time to dwell on family matters.

Sergio thought back to the moment Raquel's expressions changed. She had come back from the emergency exit window and the first thing she did was call her mother and daughter. And she ran into the bathroom when they were talking about her career.

Your reputation precedes you, he had said, and nothing about his words or intonation had any malice.

He knew nothing about Raquel's personal life other than she was stationed in and rooted for Barcelona and that she had a close relationship with her mother and daughter, information he had just acquired five minutes ago. 

He furrowed his brow, standing in front of the bathroom door.

It couldn't have been that _he_ had said it to her. It had to be about what he had said.

He winced. She had heard that before – and she had heard it in the _worst_ possible way.

With his heart beating out of his chest at the prospect of having hurt her, he lightly tapped on the door.

"Raquel?"

* * *

_Day One, 11:22 AM_

Raquel knew how to handle her panic attacks. She knew the drill.

She knew the EFT tapping techniques by heart.

But she hated _knowing_ the cause of her anxiety. She hated that it still had an everlasting effect on her. She hated that still, to this day, she was alone dealing with the consequences of it. She hated that she wasn’t as strong or tough as she looked.

And maybe it was the fact that she had no way out of the apartment or maybe it was that she had no idea how to explain to her coworker what the hell had happened, but this time it look a lot longer than it usually did for her to climb back down from the attack.

She had a vague memory of Sergio knocking on the bathroom door and calling out to her but she had no idea of _when_ exactly he had done so. How much time had passed since she stormed out of the living room?

With her breathing once again steady, she washed her hands and face and dried herself up. She stood in front of the door, tentatively, still unsure if she could actually come out and face the questions that were bound to come.

"Sergio?" She called out, in the smallest voice, mostly just to check if he was actually there.

To her surprise, his response was immediate:

"Yeah?"

She cursed under her breath.

"Raquel," he said, hesitation dripping through his voice. "If you want to talk or, you know, if you _don't_ want to, it's okay."

She sighed in relief of being given a get out of jail free card for this.

Talking about her panic attacks and PTSD with a fellow coworker is definitely not something she would want to do after a one night stand.

She realized she had remained quiet, but when she opened her lips to speak, Sergio's voice once again appeared:

"Can I ask you to come out of the bathroom, though? I just– I just really need to pee," he explained and Raquel didn't resist the weak smile that graced her lips. 

"Well, it's not entirely my fault if your bathroom is the only room in your apartment that has any doors," she teased and Sergio felt a wave of relief washing down on him.

She had to be at least feeling better if she was joking, right?

She slowly unlocked the bathroom door and pulled it open, startled to find Sergio sitting down on the floor next to it. He looked up at her with a worried look on his face, but a soft smile on his lips.

"All yours," she said, getting out of the bathroom at the same time he got up from the floor.

"Do you need anything? Water maybe?" He asked, sharing a glance with her.

"I can get it," she nodded. "Didn't you badly want to pee?"

"Right," he replied, nudging his glasses up his nose and replacing her in the bathroom.

Raquel went to the kitchen, had a glass of water and decided to occupy her hands and mind by washing the dishes. She smiled fondly at the sight of Sergio sitting down next to the bathroom, waiting for her to come out. It was oddly endearing even if she didn’t expect it from the idea she had of him.

She let her mind drift back to her happy places. Weekends at the beach with Paula. Lunches with Mariví. Happy hours with Ágata. Having a glass of wine by herself. Lazy Sundays with her dad when she was a kid.

She started to feel like herself again. She had already finished washing the dishes and was pouring herself another cup of coffee when he emerged from the bathroom, seemingly fresh off a shower.

His hair was still damp, his glasses a little foamed and he was wearing another pair of linen pants, this one a warm shade of crimson, and a white shirt that complimented him incredibly well.

"Can I ask if you feeling better?" He raised his eyebrows, unsure of what her reaction would be.

To his surprise, and maybe to her own, she smiled – even if it didn't quite reach her eyes: "I'm better."

She had gotten used to plastering a smile and telling other people – but mostly herself – that she was fine.

She thought she had managed to throw him off, but he sat on one of the kitchen stools with a knot tied in his forehead.

He was thinking about something, hard.

She swallowed dry, raising the mug to her lips to hide her nervousness.

"Raquel," he said, looking up to her. She raised her eyebrows in return. "You're a negotiator. I'd like to propose a deal."

It was Raquel's turn to frown, "A deal? Of what kind?"

"Well," Sergio shrugged, taking his glasses off to clean them with the hem of his shirt before putting them back on. "We're stuck here for two entire days. I know we don't know each other very well and it can be awkward, believe me, I'm very familiar with awkward."

She had to suppress a smile.

"I know at the company we are competitors or whatever, even though I don't exactly agree of any of that, but I'm just thinking that since we're stuck together, we can lay down our weapons," he continued. 

"Lay down our weapons."

"Yes."

"I'm not sure I understand."

“Look, I have terrible poker face. I would much rather we be honest with each other. We don't have to talk about anything we don't want to, only... be honest. No consequences."

"No consequences?"

"No consequences."

"So nothing I say can be used against me at work," Raquel mused, studying the offer.

"Hey, the other way around counts too," he smiled and she mirrored it, thoughtful.

"Alright," she said.

"Can we shake on it?"

She laughed, "okay, sure."

She made her way to the counter and stretched out her arm. Sergio did the same and they shook hands, softly smiling and carefully pleased with their resolution. It already seemed to clear up the air.

"Can I start with a question?" She asked, more at ease with him after their agreement.

"Sure."

“Are you really a Real Madrid fan?”

He smiled, “No.”

“Then why did you say you were?”

Sergio exhaled loudly. Was she really already beating him at his own game?

Nevertheless, he was committed to his offer, and sincerely answered, “To tease you.” 

“Why?”

“I wanted an excuse to talk to you,” he admitted, nudging his glasses. 

“Are you a soccer fan at all?”

“No. But from time to time I follow the news so I’ll have something to talk about with people at work.”

Raquel studied him, leaning against the counter as if she was inspecting his eyes, his words, his body language very carefully. He had no question of why she was good at her job. She knew how to read people and it showed. She would have made a great detective in another life.

"Why did you barely talked to me? At the company? I hadn't even realized you knew my name until last night."

"Of course I knew your name," Sergio replied, almost instantly regretting it.

She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Hoping to make it better, he amended: "I know the names of everyone in the company, I know what goes on in every department. I just... I don't usually talk to people unless I have to."

“Or unless they’re men and you want to show them how much of a soccer fan you are.”

Sergio chuckled. “It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like? Tell me.”

There was a pause while Sergio organized his thoughts.

“When I started working at the company, I didn’t fit in,” he admitted. “I identify as an introvert so working with people, with _so_ many people, it was very new to me. So I started doing what I do best – observe. And I noticed that, other than work, soccer was one of main topics of conversation in the hallways. So I clung to it.”

She quietly nodded, ruminating his words.

Then, she glanced up at him defiantly, “Why did you need an excuse to talk to me?”

She saw the moment his lips quivered, nervous. “Because I didn’t know where to start.”

"But you've had opportunities. Professionally."

"Okay. I did," he nervously agreed. He didn't want to lie, but he wasn't quite sure of the level of honesty he was allowed to spill. "If we're being honest, I guess I felt... a little intimidated."

"By me?"

"Yeah, don't sound so surprised."

"Well, I'm sorry if I didn't picture the CEO's son being intimidated by me."

Sergio straightened his posture. "Oh. You know about that."

"I think everyone does,” she replied, spacing her words slowly as if she was unsure of his next reaction. “Would you rather they didn't?"

“Very much, yes,” he quickly answered.

“Is that why you use a different surname?”

“Also.”

“Why don’t you want people to know?”

“I hate special treatment. Who told you?

“Ágata."

“Of course…” He sighed wistfully.

"You've known her for a while?"

"Yeah, almost eight years."

Raquel widened her eyes at the fact – Ágata had never told her that –, but didn’t miss a beat. “Are you friends with her?”

“Kind of. I'm not really close to anyone.”

“Anyone?”

“Uh, just my brother.” 

“You have a brother?”

“Andrés, yes,” he confirmed.

Then, she turned the conversation back on tracks – to what she was _actually_ interested in: "Why were you intimidated by me?"

"Because you're extremely competent and criminally beautiful."

He had answered so bluntly that it startled her. It seemed like he was trying his hardest to keep his glance on her rather than the counter between them. 

“W-what?” She stuttered, taken back.

"We're supposed to be honest, right?"

“Right,” she nodded.

"My turn,” he smiled. “So why me?"

"I'm sorry?” She frowned, sipping from her coffee.

"You could have left the party with any guy in the company, yet you left with me. Why?"

Raquel gave him a shrug. "I don't know."

"Come on,” he grinned. “I’ve been totally honest.”

She rolled her eyes, trying to come up with the answer to that herself. 

“You’re handsome,” she finally said.

"Well, thank you, but so are guys like Suárez and Xavier.”

"Because you don't seem like the other guys,” she said and her own grimace followed. “Fuck, that sounds so cliché."

Sergio chuckled. "What do you mean?”

"When I got transferred, most of our colleagues tried to ask me out. You barely even talked to me unless you needed information for a report. You didn't look at me like they did. In fact, you barely looked at me at all,” she explained, thinking back to her first month at the company. “It was kind of weird, but it made me feel more comfortable. Like I was just another employee. Not like a mountain that had to be conquered by the first one to climb it.”

He fell silent upon her reveal. “I'm sorry you felt that way.”

“Me too,” she sighed.

“Have you… have you been through that a lot in your career?” He asked, afraid he was stepping into an intimate and unfamiliar territory.

“Most women do. More often than not.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. And you’d think it gets better, but it just gets harder, you know?” She shook her head, frustrated. “Being a 40-year-old woman trying to climb up the ladder in a boy’s club.”

“I couldn't possibly imagine it,” he muttered and she could hear the empathy in his voice.

“I barely get to see my daughter and my mother,” she continued. “And fighting for a promotion up against the boss’ number one boy is exhausting.”

“You don't have to fight me,” Sergio said.

Raquel snorted, “Right.”

“Really. I have zero interest in being COO,” he assured.

“What? No, _really_?”

“I don’t. I swear. I like my department,” he smiled. Then, his expression turned thoughtful, almost somber. “Most of the time.”

“Most of the time?”

“Well, yeah. Sometimes I disagree with hierarchical decisions to cover shit up. Shit I didn’t even want to know about,” he explained through a troublesome expression.

She couldn’t avoid it. Her curiosity prevailed: “Can you tell me any of it?” 

“I would rather not,” his tone was serious, but he answered with a smile. “It could compromise you.”

“Wow. Okay,” she nodded, thoughtful. “So how do you handle it? Being in the know even when things are bad?”

“How do you handle closing deals when you know the profit is all they care about?” He retorted.

“Compartmentalization,” she answered right off the bat and he laughed. She smiled, looking up at him, “You?”

“I don’t know. I guess… I feel like a different person on the clock,” he shook his head. “Like there’s _me_ and there’s… the guy that goes to work.”

“Damn,” she bit her lower lip. “Can you tell them apart?”

“Most of the time, yes.”

“So _are_ you? On the run?” Raquel asked again.

“I hope not. I want Knowledge, not Operations.”

“But Otávio’s pushing for you.”

“Otávio…” Sergio let out a loud exhale, as if he was thinking back on his own memories. “He’s difficult. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for everything he’s done for me but… he can be a bully. In the company. At home.”

Raquel nodded, quietly. Little did he know that, better than anyone, she could understand someone you love being a bully. Being hurtful. Being violent.

She pushed down those thoughts and memories, sweeping them under the imaginary rug of her mind.

Then, she frowned, as if the question had just occurred to her: “Why do you call your dad Otávio?”

Sergio looked down at his clasped hands before glancing up at her again, explaining: “Because he isn’t my biological father.”


	4. Verdad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, dears! How are you after part 4? Have you been able to marathon all of it yet?
> 
> Well, ******SPOILER ALERT******, just like you, I'm already missing our resident couple and now I can't wait for part 5 so they can finally reunite lmao.
> 
> So to keep your hearts warm until then, here's a very emotional chapter of this fic.
> 
> Stay at home, be safe!

_Day One, 12:14 AM_

They had decided to migrate from the kitchen counter to the couch, so they both could lounge more comfortably as Sergio disclosed his familiar woes. Raquel hated to admit how intrigued she was by his revelation that Otávio wasn’t his biological father, but she looked at the man in front of her differently for the first time since the night before.

It was the first time she admitted to herself that, in reality, she knew next to nothing about this man and he knew next to nothing about her. Yet here they were, stuck together by a twist of fate and poorly forecast weather, peeling layer after layer of facts and informations about each other. And, fundamentally, if she had to admit it, the more she got to know him the more she felt comfortable with him.

He wasn’t the arrogant, smirking, intelligent Director of Knowledge she viewed him as in the company. He was right, he _was_ a different person in there. Here, in between these walls, he was different. Softer. Calmer. Gentler.

She quickly thought about what he had said – what if she had left the party with Suárez or Xavier? What if she was stuck with one of them for two entire days? Would any of them actually care about her panic attack? Would any of them actually make the most to make her feel at ease in an unknown environment?

She had never given much thought to Sergio’s personal life before – except to complain to Ágata about how he was so unfairly in advantage as the CEO’s son.

But now, hearing the way he talked about Otávio, hearing in his voice how he wished no one knew of their relation and getting to hear what no one else in the company seemed to know – that they weren’t actually related by blood –, it ignited a powerful surge of curiosity through her.

What did that say about him?

What did that say about the way he was viewed by his peers?

She sat in front of him with her legs criss crossed and pulled a cushion against her chest, patiently waiting for him to further explain the information he had just shared.

“I, uh,” Sergio tried to find the words to begin, cursing himself for the idea of this deal in the first place.

The only other person who knew his history in such detail was Andrés.

“ _Joder_ , I’ll have to tell you the whole story, huh?” He snorted, nervous.

“Not if you don’t want to,” she offered, raising her eyebrows.

“No, okay, I can do this,” he shook his head, leaning against the couch and taking a deep breath. “Um. My mother passed away when I was a baby,” he began.

He noticed the moment Raquel shifted on her side of the couch, her eyes sharp and focused on him.

“So it had always been just my dad and I,” he looked down at the carpet, fixating on the texture and thread count to keep his emotions in control. “I was always very sick and when I was five I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.”

Raquel’s lips parted, her mouth slightly agape, as she imagined what he must have gone through as a little boy.

“I was going in and out of hospitals for most of my childhood. I didn’t go to school, but since staying in bed was all I could do, I read all the books my dad could find at the public library,” he continued. He smiled fondly at the memory of his father. “He was a great dad, you know? He was always there for me.”

Sergio let out a small sigh and pushed his glasses up his nose in that particular way that was already beginning to become familiar to Raquel.

“He put me in the best hospital he could find in Madrid. But the bills started piling up and he started taking more shifts at the factory he worked in. One day, when I was 10, social service came to inform me he had an accident at work,” he recalled as a dark shadow cast upon his expression. “He… he didn’t make it,” he gulped. “So now I was an orphan stuck in a hospital bed.”

Raquel put down the pillow in her hand and leaned in, placing a hand on his forearm for comfort.

“Sergio, I’m so sorry,” she offered sweetly. “No child deserves to go through any of that.”

He nodded, the corner of his lip curving into a sad smile.

“It’s okay,” he shrugged. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really. Just… really bad luck. Well, actually, luck struck me,” he said, glancing back at her and adjusting his glasses again. “Because, you know, I had actually made _one_ friend in the hospital.”

Raquel continued to listen attentively, and retracted her hand from his arm, not wanting to be intrusive of his personal space. Sergio, however, missed the warmth of her touch as soon as she pulled away, but tried his best not to convey it.

“Andrés,” he continued. “He was two years older than me and he was in observation while the doctors were trying to find a diagnosis for his illness.”

Sergio could see teenage Andrés in front of him as he spoke. That pompous, smug smile that remained on his face to this day. Raquel had heard of Andrés, Otávio's first born, even though she had only seen him once when he came in for a board meeting. His fame was of throwing the biggest parties and using the most varied amount of substances imaginable to men.

It seemed completely unmatched that Andrés and _Sergio_ , the man in plaid, crimson linen pants in front of her, shared such a profound bond. But she was beginning to understand it.

“I don’t know why, but he became fascinated with me, the kid who couldn’t get out of bed but always had a pile of books by his side,” he proceeded. “He taught me how to play Dungeons and Dragons – although, if you ask him, he will deny it _thoroughly_ ,” Sergio laughed and Raquel chuckled, even if she had _no idea_ of what that game was. “And we started to spend most of our free time outside of treatment together.”

Encountering no resistance from her and feeling more at ease by the passing minute, Sergio moved on the couch, turning his body to face her directly.

“I think, in a way, he kind of saved me,” he admitted and Raquel could swear his eyes were brimming with affection for his brother. “My immunity got better, my crisis were getting more and more spaced out. The doctors were almost ready to sign my release when Andrés got his diagnosis.”

Sergio ran a hand through his hair.

“He has a… rare genetic disease. Degenerative. Incurable,” his voice fading out slowly, giving away the fact that he still hadn’t come to terms with the future that awaited his older brother. “The best the doctors could do was prescribe palliative medicines so that he wouldn’t be in pain and so that his tremors wouldn’t impact his daily life.” 

Raquel quietly shook her head. How cruel life could be sometimes, huh?

Sergio had been dealt a bad hand, just like she had been. In his case, however, most of his pain had been endured in his childhood. In hers, it all began with the death of her father in her early adult years. Grief had led her to a series of bad decisions, one after another. And when she finally got her life together, when she finally finished college and got a job she actually liked – along came pain, once again.

But Sergio was probably more used to it than her, having dealt with it for most of his life, and he kept going, nonetheless, “I still don’t know exactly what Andrés told his father, but the very next day the lady from social services came to tell me someone decided to adopt me. They had paid all my medical bills and signed all the papers. And Andrés showed up on my door, with Otávio right behind him.”

Raquel offered him a small smile, relieved by the part in which he had finally found a home to call his.

“They lived in this huge house, a mansion, really,” Sergio explained, his voice suddenly excited as if he was reminded of the first time he had walked into the house. “I got my own room. I got new clothes. The best doctors and the most expensive pills. I think I gained two kilograms on my first couple of weeks there because I was just fed _constantly_ the greatest food I had ever tasted.”

They both chuckled, exchanging a fond look. Sergio’s fingers, however, continuously played with the fringe of the pillow Raquel had laid on the couch.

“And I had a friend, a best friend. I had a brother,” he proudly stated. “For all his peculiarities, and Andrés does have _many_ , he wasn’t possessive with any of his stuff. He shared everything with me – all his toys, all his games, all his books. We became inseparable. Otávio wasn’t home much, always busy with the company, and Andrés’ mother wasn’t in the picture. It was the two of us, the cook and the housekeepers. For a while it felt like I was living a dream.”

Sergio’s fingers stopped fiddling with the pillow’s fringe suddenly.

“Then, one day, I realized it wasn’t, really, a dream,” he continued. “Over a stupid remark Andrés made at dinner, Otávio _humiliated_ him. It took Andrés all he had not to burst into tears. That was when I understood – that it wasn’t the first time it had happened and that it wouldn’t be the last.”

His eyes closed for a moment, and Raquel could tell he was going through all of his memories again.

“His voice…” He muttered, almost inaudible, his eyes still closed. “It was like hearing a thunder roar.”

He paused, catching his breath, and opened his eyes again, looking up at Raquel with a tentative smile.

“I quickly gathered how to bend myself to Otávio’s wills, even if they weren’t my own. I felt obligated. He was giving me everything, who was I not to comply?” Sergio asked, his intonation stressing it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Andrés, however… he was always a little rebellious. If I didn’t know any better, it was almost as if he _liked_ to provoke him. Sometimes I tried to protect Andrés and… it would fall back on me too.”

Raquel looked down at the mug she was still holding in one of her hands. The coffee had already gone cold. She had forgotten entirely that she was even holding it. She looked at the black pool, staring at her own reflection, and let out a small, shaky breath.

Sergio looked up at her curiously and she gave him a small shrug.

“Words can cut deep wounds,” she offered.

“Yeah,” he nodded, his eyes flickering on hers, and for a second Raquel could feel as if he was reading her mind.

She leaned toward the coffee table and put the mug on the surface, propping herself back up and placing the pillow now between her ribcage and the back of the couch. 

“It must have been hard,” she granted, biting her lower lip, and something in her voice made Sergio feel deeply understood. “Growing up in constant terror. Like one false step and you’d have to go through it again.”

“It was. But I’m glad I got to be there for Andrés,” he kindly offered and Raquel felt a wave of appreciation wash through her.

Even through his own grief, even through his own pain, this man was able to find strength, not for him, but for someone he loved. And if there was anything Raquel understood, it was that sentiment.

“I finally understood that he approached me in the hospital because he felt as lonely as I was.”

Raquel’s brow furrowed. “Is that why Andrés didn’t want to join the company?”

“Yeah. Well, he is on the board, but… I guess he didn’t want to feel as if he was under Otávio’s strings any longer,” he explained. “The further he got from him, the freer he felt.”

She quietly nodded, familiar with that feeling as well.

“But it was more than that too,” Sergio conceded. “He… he was never really cured. So… I think in a way he just wants to be out there, living his life while he still can.”

“So he’s, what, traveling around the world drinking wine and eating fancy cheese?” Raquel asked, in an attempt to lift up the mood.

It must have worked, because Sergio chuckled, flashing his dimples very quickly as he glanced at her. 

“Basically, yes,” he replied, tilting his head.

“Not gonna lie, that sounds nice,” she mused, glancing out the window momentarily.

“Yeah, it does a little, doesn’t it?”

She glanced back at him and noticed his eyes were fixated on her. She felt a wave of heat fill her chest and throat and although she couldn’t exactly place it, she pushed it aside.

“So… How did you get involved with Mediazio in the first place?” She asked, trying to avert her own thoughts.

“Well, to be honest… I didn’t really use to think about the future that much,” he crooked his head. “I think, being sick for so long as a kid, I kind of thought I wouldn’t live past my teen years? The idea of dying young was still very vivid in my mind. I ended up doing whatever Andrés did.”

He smiled, taking a deep breath.

“So when we graduated from high school, Otávio sent us to the London Business School. After that, I got an internship in Rome, Andrés got one in Berlin and after a few years I came home and he didn’t,” Sergio shrugged, his lips pressed into a thin line. “I started working at Mediazio and he didn’t. Otávio was pissed but, since people around him seemed to think I was his son anyway, he kept me close.”

“And you and Andrés, you’re still close, right?” Raquel questioned, surprising herself with how genuinely invested she was in the life of this man that, mere two hours ago, she was literally about to plunge in the snow to get away from.

“Yeah,” he smiled. “We call each other almost every week.”

“That’s sweet,” she mirrored his smile.

“Do you have any siblings?” He asked, eyebrows raised, attempting to shift the conversation away from him.

But Raquel’s eyes turned sorrowful and full of remorse as she responded, “I do. A sister.”

He hesitated for a moment, but finally asked, “Are you not close?”

“We were. Sort of,” she nodded, her gaze falling to the fabric of the couch between them. “Things are not so good between us now.”

“Sorry. I don’t mean to pry,” he raised a hand and she glanced up at him with a weak smile on her lips.

“It’s not that, it’s just…” She sighed deeply, her eyes still focused on him. “I miss her. Hearing how you talk about Andrés, it… it reminded me of that. I have been so angry with her that I actually forgot that I miss her.”

Sergio offered a pause, unsure if it was something she wanted to talk about.

He watched as she brought her knees close to her chest, holding them with her arms.

He didn’t know much about Raquel, but from the little he did know, she was a private person. She was like the Castillo de Belmonte. Beautiful and remarkable on the outside, but mysteriously kept away from prying eyes by the strongest fortress walls.

When she didn’t retreat, however, he took it as a sign of reception.

So he asked, “How long has it been?”

“A little over a year,” she admitted, her gaze fixated on her own dress.

“That’s a long time,” he said, offering her another pause to breath. “Is she older…?”

“Four years younger,” Raquel explained, shifting herself again to criss cross her legs in front of her as she bit the inside of her cheek. “She– Well, actually, _I_ got involved with a colleague, Alberto, years ago. At the company I worked at before Mediazio,” she paused, craning her neck. “It wasn’t serious at first but… I got pregnant and… I didn’t want to go through an abortion so we decided to give it a try.”

Raquel noticed that it was the first time in a long time she was actually talking about this to _anyone_. She thought she would’ve been anxious or sad or angry, but all she actually felt was relief. It felt _good_ to talk about her experience. To say it aloud. Keeping it inside, carrying it all by herself, she’d worry she would lose her mind at some point, thinking she was crazy, that it was all in her head.

Sergio had his eyes on her, attentive, patient, open. In front of this man who had just shared his life story with her, no questions asked, she felt comfortable. She felt safe.

“We moved in together, we planned for the birth and when Paula came she brought us so much joy,” she could feel her eyes watering as she spoke of Paula.

How bittersweet was it that one of the greatest moments of her life was also tinged by the worst?

“For a while it was good. To have someone to share your life with, you know?” Raquel conceded, pursing her lips. “But the truth is that he is a violent man. He abused me verbally. Physically. He drained me of all the energy I had. All the life I had.”

A tear had streamed down her cheek by the time she uttered her last word. She sighed, using a knuckle to brush it away. Sergio’s shoulders tense, unsure of what to do.

Out of nervousness, he spoke, hurriedly, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry you had to go through…” He paused, looking for the right words and, yet, finding none. “An experience… so…”

He let out a frustrated exhale, nudging his glasses up his nose again.

“I–I really don’t know what to say,” he tried again, blurting out the first thing that came through his mind in the following second: “But if you need, I don’t know, someone to crack his phone and send his nudes to his entire company, I know a guy. Just say the word,” he said, in a serious tone, but a weak smile on his face nonetheless.

Raquel looked at him as if he had said something ludicrous. He thought he offended her, but she was honestly touched that he would even think about it.

He grimaced, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be making a joke, I–” 

“No, it’s okay,” she gave him a weak smile as well.

“I’m sorry, it’s just, I look at you and I can’t imagine it, I can’t see–”

“What? A battered woman?” She raised her eyebrows and he fell silent instantly. “Because I’m a _shark_ negotiator, right? Because I get along with the guys.”

She snorted and then, paused. She held back, refraining herself from crying further.

“The truth is that… It doesn’t start with a smack,” she said. “If it was like that, no one would ever be with a violent man. On the contrary, you think you’ve fallen for this charming, intelligent man. That makes you feel like the center of the universe.”

Raquel gave him a faint smile and, out of impulse, Sergio felt his jaw tighten, his wrists clench. He nervously looked down at the couch and back at her, unsure of what to do.

“And he asks you to change your profile picture and put your daughter’s photo instead, you think that’s sweet,” she continues, taking a beat to bite her bottom lip in anguish. “And he tells you not to wear a skirt to work, you think, well, I’m a woman, I work in an environment filled with men. He’s just looking out for me. Then, one day, he raises his voice at you.”

She looked at Sergio, her eyes brimming with tears.

He felt his breath get caught, “You don’t need to tell me that–”

“Yes,” she interrupted him. “Yes, I do. I _need_ to,” she assured him, inhaling deeply before continuing. “Look, it’s like you’re going down the basement in a horror film. And everyone thinks: don’t go down the stairs!”

She waved her hands theatrically, even though tears were threatening to fall down at any time.

“But you go anyway. And then I got the first slap,” she said. “And the second, and the third. And one day, when he threw a glass at me, it shattered on the wall next to Paula’s crib,” her eyes were swollen and she sniffed, bringing her knuckles to clear away the tears that were on the verge of brimming from her eyes. “She has a scar on her arm to this day. That was it for me.”

Sergio looked at her, a worried expression in his face, “Did you press charges?”

“I tried,” Raquel replied. “But… he is a lawyer. He’s popular. Well connected. And when it came down to the company, I was on my maternity leave and he admonished the directors that I wasn’t allowed back.”

She bit her bottom lip again, staring at Sergio. He quietly shook his head, startled.

“The good thing is that I had leverage,” she continued. “I had pictures. And, you know, firing a woman on maternity leave would look really bad for them, so I did what I do for a living. I cut a deal. I signed a NDA under the condition that he would never come close to me and my family ever again.”

Raquel smiled as if that actually had been a happy ending to her story.

She knew it hadn’t been. She could tell Sergio knew it too.

So maybe out of impulse, or maybe to fill the silence, she added, “Oh, and he signed a big, fat check and I put all of it in Paula’s savings.”

“That’s… at least you got it in writing, you know?” Sergio said, hesitantly. “If not with a restraining order, then…”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “But the bad thing is that my sister started dating him,” she paused, waiting for Sergio’s reaction. He didn’t disappoint. His eyes boggled, his mouth agape. She smiled. “I know. Straight out of a telenovela, right?” 

Her smile died out as her thoughts traveled back to her sister.

“I tried telling her. I didn’t want my little sister to go through the same hell I did. You know?” She rhetorically asked Sergio. “And he accused me of breaking the NDA. Of course, if I insisted, he would break the deal for good. Then he would get to come close to my sister _and_ Paula?”

She shook her head vehemently.

“Raquel, there’s gotta be someone that can help you,” Sergio said, his brow tied into a knot.

“Who? Who will help me?” She shrugged.

“Me,” Sergio impulsively said. “I don’t know how, but… If you want a bodyguard with glasses, I–”

He interrupted himself, wishing he could have taken back those words.

She looked at him, both thankful and taken back by his offer.

But all she gave him was a smile and a small shrug, “What’s done, it’s done. I can’t help her if she doesn’t want to be helped. I can’t… put that pressure on myself.”

“You’re right,” he agree, nodding and running a hand through his hair, defeated. “You’re absolutely right.”

“No. I’m not right,” she snorted, her expression still sorrowful. “I’m just… I’m just weak.”

“I don’t think you’re weak,” Sergio rebuffed instantly.

Raquel tilted her head, raising her eyebrows at him, “Okay.” 

“ _Really_. I don’t,” he repeated. “If anything, he is the one who is weak. Despite what our ocidental society might think, perpetrating violence is a sign of sickness,” he continued and Raquel studied him silently. “There’s a Buddhist monk that calls it the sickness of the soul.”

She pursed her lips as she considered the concept. 

“He’s not wrong,” she quietly affirmed.

Sergio smiled softly at her, but something was machinating in his brain.

After a moment, he asked her, “Do you know what _ahimsa_ means?”

She shook her head in silence, looking at him curiously.

“It’s a _yama_ – an ethic guideline from the _hatha yoga_ tradition,” Sergio explained. “It means non-violence. It means to not hurt others, but also to not hurt ourselves.”

“Ahimsa?” She echoed, attempting to imitate the way he pronounced it.

He gave her the smallest, proudest, encouraging nod.

She gave him a small smile in return, repeating the newly learned word, this time with further vigor, “ _Ahimsa_.”

She looked down at one of her hands, standing between them in the couch over the couch fabric.

She wanted the word tattooed on the palm of her hand, where she could see it every day, every hour, every minute if she had to. She wanted it to remind her that Alberto had already hurt her in the past, but she was the one hurting herself in the present, with her own guilt, with her own self-charging.

She hadn’t noticed how they both fell silent until he placed a hand above hers, drawing her attention back to him, his thumb lightly caressing the tips of her fingers.

“I think that…” He intoned, his brow furrowed as if he was searching for the right words. “Surviving violence…”

He paused again, eyes fixated on the carpet, as if he was reminded of his own troubled past. Raquel turned her palm up so she could hold his hand back. He glanced at her gratefully.

“That takes real strength. It takes courage,” he offered, a small sigh escaping his lips soon after. She gently squeezed his hand and he smiled at her. “You know what the etymology of the word courage is?”

He really wasn’t lying when he said he spent most of his childhood and teen years reading books – and, she suspected, probably most of his adult life as well. The vastness of his knowledge was astounding. And it wasn’t prepotent or arrogant as she once thought it was.

It was genuine.

He shared knowledge because it was what he treasured. Because it was how he learned to see the world. It was how he shielded himself from it.

Raquel shook her head negatively, her breath getting caught in her throat in anticipation.

“Courage is the action of the heart,” he confessed in a husky, low voice, as if he was telling her a secret.

Her lips parted as she absorbed his words. She hadn’t felt this connected to someone since Paula was born.

She looked at Sergio as if she were seeing him for the first time – and maybe she was. Now that he had opened himself to her, and now that she had opened herself to him, it was almost as if they were meeting each other again. She looked down at their clasped hands, the feeling of warmth of his skin against hers.

And without giving it too much thought, she shifted herself on the couch closer to him, still holding his gaze. Sergio’s body tensed, but he didn’t move. He wanted her to be on control.

She brought her free hand to the side of his face, and lightly placed it against his cheek. His eyes momentarily closed at her caring touch, and opened up again to find her smiling at him.

He smiled back, his dimples appearing right above his beard. And she leaned in, letting her lips brush against his delicately. He remained still, his warm breath against her mouth, as she softly recognized his lips.

Then, she pressed her mouth against his. They had kissed last night and even though she couldn’t remember it in details, it wasn’t anything like this kiss. He could feel it too, even if he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

It was different.

Maybe they were different.

She let her fingers slowly caress his neck and hair and he let go of her hand, sprawling his palm on the small of her back, pulling her closer to him and when she did, her breasts pressing against his rising chest, she let out a small, content humming sound into his lips.

His hand continued across her back but, instead of roaming the rest of her body, it remained there, as if he wanted nothing else but support her comfort in that position. His other hand found the back of her head, in between strands of her hair, and she parted her lips at the softness of his touch. He guided his tongue in slowly, delicately exploring her taste, how her lips felt against his.

Raquel had kissed men many – _many –_ times before, but never like this. She couldn’t remember a time when kissing Alberto felt like this. Intimate.

In the back of her mind, Raquel was telling herself to stop, to pull away, to run to the hill – _hell_ , to jump into the two meters of snow outside. But her conscious mind wasn’t in command anymore. She could feel her body moving, reacting to his, but she couldn’t control it.

If there was anything she could blame it on, it was the action of the heart.


	5. Por garbanzos y paellas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I can't even thank you enough for your lovely feedback! I'm so glad the story is helping you guys through this tough time in quarantine because it's been helping me a lot too!!
> 
> Since last chapter was so sad, I thought I'd leave you guys on a softer note with this chapter.
> 
> I'll probably update on the weekend or the beginning of next week, but bear with me! I promise next chapter will be worth the wait mwahahaha

_Day One, 1:23 PM_

Sergio couldn’t help but smile against her lips. He never even knew kissing someone could be this real, this genuine, this _intimate_. They just fit together, like a key in a lock, like there was no one else in the world at that moment than the two of them, like nothing else mattered. The rest of the world just faded away.

He wanted nothing more than to encapsulate this moment, the way her lips felt against his, how her body warmed his while pressed against his chest.

When they finally parted for air, he leaned his forehead against hers, looking at her face as if he wanted to memorize everything about her expression. Her closed eyes, her lips still parted, her breaths heavy and warm against him.

Raquel slowly opened her eyes, caressing the side of his face with her thumb and her heart skipped when she saw the way he was looking at her. She wanted nothing more than to pull him back for another kiss, to straddle him and ride him until they both passed out in exhaustion, but she also wanted to step away. Even if she felt safe with him, even if she felt he was just as vulnerable as she was, it had been years since she had learned her impulses were not always to be trusted.

But she didn’t want to tell him that, not after everything they had said to each other, so she just smiled at him and proceeded to tilt her head sideways, pressing her lips into a thin line.

“Do you mind if I take a shower?” She asked, almost in a whisper, and he gave her such a radiant smile that she wanted nothing more than to press her lips against his again.

“I would tell you to be my guest, but I think we’re well past that stage,” he replied and she chuckled.

She took a deep breath, pressing a gentle kiss on his cheek and pulling away from him with great difficulty. 

“I’ll get you a towel and some clothes,” Sergio offered, adjusting his glasses one more time before getting up from the couch.

Raquel stood there quietly, her bottom lip in between her teeth, as she tried to process everything that had just happened. When Sergio came back with a towel and a change of clothes, she excused herself to the bathroom, grateful that he didn’t try to kiss her again because she would have hopelessly surrendered.

And once again, while Raquel locked herself in his bathroom, Sergio’s thoughts were still fixated on her.

If he were being honest, he could admit to himself that he had always been attracted to her. Ever since she walked into Mediazio’s offices, in her executive pantsuit, and introduced herself as the game changer negotiator and director of operations that was responsible for the 6% increase of the company’s profits with the latest acquisitions and sales.

He had been watching her since she joined the company, when she was still in Barcelona, and in a couple of months their numbers spiked up as a result of her feline precision and no-bullshit negotiations. He had known her first through numbers, graphs, results, reports.

He had alerted the Senior Executives that she was one for them to keep their eyes out and it didn’t take long for them to come to their senses. They had to bring her in.

Sergio was so intrigued by this woman and by her intelligence, that he couldn’t help but Google her. He wondered what she looked like, whose appearance guarded the intellect he already admired, and while Sergio didn't consider himself to be a superficial man, he wasn’t expecting her to be so beautiful. He remembered staring at her photo for five minutes in the middle of the day, then closing the browser and rushing off to drink some water in a failed attempt to get her image out of his brain.

He already knew who she was when she was brought in, but nothing could have prepared him for seeing her in person. Her posture, her smile, her professional demeanor. He couldn’t even bring himself to look her straight in the eye. He feared he would turn into stone if he did so.

He had brushed away the far stretched possibility of ever having a chance with her, but when she had kissed him the night before, his entire world crumbled down.

He had had many drinks, but her kiss sobered him up in a matter of seconds. When she nearly stripped him in his hallway and he laughed, he was certain he was dreaming. It couldn’t be real life.

So it was no surprise, even if it was disappointing, that she wanted to get out of his place the moment she woke up.

Yet, almost four hours later, here they were, after exchanging such a tender, powerful kiss. Sergio wanted to laugh, to scream, to cry all at once. He felt utterly ridiculous but happy in the same intensity.

He just didn’t know that, while taking a shower, Raquel was one thread away from losing her mind.

After Alberto, she had sworn to herself she would never get involved with anyone. And, yet, here she was developing feelings for a man after spending one blurry night and one morning with him. She rolled her eyes as the water ran through her body. 

She turned to the small glass shelf in the shower to look for toiletries and groaned when she found two bottles of artisanal, organic shampoo and conditioner. She let out a chuckle, followed with a groan.

_Of course_ , she thought to herself. He fucking would be the ethical, ecological consumer. She brought her hands to cup her face, feeling fucking delirious.

Every little thing she came to learn about him brought her one step closer to throwing herself into the abyss, to jump into the canyon without a parachute.

She tried to push that thought aside and proceeded to wash her hair with his _stupid_ , delicious products.

She tried to focus on the tasks at hand: she finished her shower. She dried herself. She flossed. She used mouthwash. She put on his clothes: a long-sleeved grey shirt that almost covered the black boxer briefs he had borrowed her. She laughed at the sight of herself in his clothes, looking at the mirror as if she were the most ridiculous character of a romantic comedy – the ones she would always poke fun at.

And she thought she was ready to see him again, but when she opened the door and saw him making up the bed, heat surged through her chest at the domesticity and simplicity of the scene. He looked up at her, smiling at the sight of seeing her refreshed and in his clothes.

Raquel’s lips unwillingly curved up and she rushed to the side of the bed to help him tidy it up. She mirrored his movements as they pulled up the cover and fluffed the pillows and when they finished, he glanced up at her, hope glistening his eyes. Her heart skipped a beat for a moment, worried for what he might say.

“So… Do you want to start prepping lunch?” He asked, his arms awkwardly hanging on the side of his body.

“Yeah,” she nodded, following him out to the kitchen.

Sergio opened his fridge for her to inspect his items as he looked through the cabinets for anything else they might want to use. Raquel glanced at the most organized fridge she ever saw, her eyes widening at each detail she marveled.

Cilantro and shallots? Rinsed (presumably) and diced (definitely) in glass jars. Fruits separated from vegetables, liquids separated from solids, everything kept in glass jars or pots and thoroughly identified with date of storage.

She let out a small gasp, turning to him, “Is your fridge at home like this too?”

He smiled timidly at her, shrugging. “What’s the alternative?”

She laughed and he wanted to store that sound forever.

"You should see my fridge," she said. “But it makes sense. You really do seem like the meticulous type,” she shrugged, looking back at the fridge and eyeing a plate of mushrooms.

“ _Vale, Inspectora_ ,” he teased and she couldn’t help but look at him with a flirtatious smirk. “What do you think about risotto?”

He raised the jar of arborio rice for her to see. She grew a wider smile.

“Perfect. I was just looking at those mushrooms,” she said, picking up the plate and setting it aside on the counter, closing the fridge with a small bump of her hips.

Sergio smiled at that little mundane detail.

He picked up two chopping boards and knives and offered her a pair of the items. Then, he reached for onions and a garlic head in a basket on the counter.

“Garlic or onion?” He asked and she pursed her lips as she pondered.

“ _Garlic_ ,” she said emphatically, taking the garlic head from his hand. He took the onions to his chopping board and they worked side by side, peeling and dicing in silence for a moment.

She watched him meticulously cut and dice the onions, both agile and precise.

“Do you like to cook?” She asked, glancing up at him for a second before turning herself back to the cloves of garlic that required her focus.

“Yeah, something about moving my hands and concentrating on foods and spices and combinations helps me clear my mind. What about you?”

“I like to cook, but I don’t like the obligation of having to do it every day.”

“What’s your favorite dish?”

“My mom’s paella,” Raquel beamed. Just thinking of the steaming pan being served on their dinner table brought water to her mouth.

“Really? Is she a good cook?”

“She was an excellent cook. She’s started losing her hand a little bit,” she said, picking up the skins of garlic and onions in one hand. She opened her mouth, but he anticipated her question.

“Organic bin, right there,” he pointed at a small, silver bin. She followed his instruction and finished chopping the garlic. “Did she teach you how to make it?” 

“She did. Mine is okay, but it is definitely not the same,” she shrugged it off, setting the chopped garlic aside with her knife and picking up the mushrooms to rinse them. “What is your favorite dish?”

Sergio heaved, shaking his head, “You’re going to laugh at me.”

“What?” She snorted, glancing up at him. “No, I won’t, what is it?”

“I’m fairly certain you’ll laugh,” he vehemently stressed.

She studied his profile thoroughly. He had focused eyes, but his expression simply showed consternation.

“Is it pizza? I’ll only laugh if it’s pizza,” she said, putting the rinsed mushrooms on the cutting board.

“ _No_ , would you really think pizza is my favorite dish?” He rested the knife on the counter as he turned to her, shaking his head, feigning disappointment. “Please have some respect for me.”

He tried to sound serious, but his intonation gave away his tease. 

“Well, you said I was going to laugh,” Raquel smiled, poking his rib with her elbow. “ _Come on_ , what is it?”

She glanced at him and he smiled, wrinkling lines framing his eyes in that adorable way. She inhaled deeply in an attempt to drown that thought far, far away inside her.

“Espinacas con garbanzos,” he finally admitted, under his breath.

“Really? Your favorite dish of _all time_ is _espinacas con garbanzos_?” She raised her eyebrows at him, surprised.

“You said you wouldn’t laugh,” he scolded her, grabbing a handful of mushrooms to put on his cutting board.

“I’m not laughing!” She said, through a wide smile, throwing her hands up while still holding her knife. “Am I laughing?”

He squinted his eyes at her, “You have a hint of amusement in your voice.”

“I _am_ amused!” She returned the knife to the cutting board, working on the mushrooms. “So if you had to eat one dish for the rest of your life it would be espinacas con garbanzos?” 

“Yes.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Well, why is paella your favorite dish?”

“Because it’s delicious and fulfilling and warm.”

“The same can be said for espinacas con garbanzos,” he argued, looking at her with an astonished look on his face. She chortled and he shook his head, smiling. “It’s just… it’s a dish my dad used to make for me all the time. He was from Andalusia and it was a family recipe.”

She looked up at him, her wide grin subsiding an affectionate smile. 

“That’s very sweet,” she offered. He smiled, crouching in front of the sink to pick up a large pan.

Raquel observed him quietly, stepping away from the counter to give him more space.

“My mom used to make paellas every Saturday when I was growing up. It was kind of a family tradition,” she said, leaning against the counter. Sergio glanced at her as he put the pan on the stove. “My dad, my mom, my sister and I – all four of us – would just spend the whole day in the kitchen. I guess that’s why it’s my favorite too.”

He smiled, quietly nodding. She watched him pace around the kitchen gathering the rest of the ingredients. Spices, olive oil, white wine. He opened the bottle and looked up at her, a question mark in his eyes.

“Hey, since we’re making risotto… How about we drink some of the white wine?” He offered and she raised her eyebrows in return. He shrugged, “You know, just so we don’t waste any of it.”

“Oh, of course. How could we let perfectly good wine go to waste?” She raised her shoulders, smiling.

He chuckled, picking up two glasses and filling them up.

“Here you go,” he gave her a glass.

“Thank you.”

“What are we toasting to?”

Raquel bit her bottom lip, thoughtful. “How about… garbanzos y paellas?”

Sergio snorted, clinking his glass with hers. “Por garbanzos y paellas.”

They sipped the wine quietly before Sergio put his glass aside to focus on their lunch again. He moved gracefully in the kitchen and she observed him attentively.

“Okay, so how about your favorite color?” Raquel asked, sipping from her glass of wine. 

“White,” he said, his gaze fixated on the sizzling pan.

“Your favorite color’s white?” She questioned, startled.

He turned around to look at her, a smile dangling in his lips, as he exasperatedly asked, “Are you going to judge every single one of my answers?”

She laughed. “I’m just... circling back for... emphasis.”

“Right,” Sergio shook his head knowingly. Then, with a shrug, he added, “I like white. It’s soothing, it matches everything, it’s orderly.”

Raquel pursed her lips to refrain from laughing out loud. 

“You have a favorite color because it’s _orderly_.” 

He raised the wooden spoon in her direction like it was his index finger, announcing, “I’m done engaging you.”

“ _Pleaaaase_ , don’t, I’m having fun,” she pouted, her eyes bright and joyful.

“Of course you are, at my expense.”

“No, really. I think it’s adorable.”

“That’s what every grown man likes to hear.”

“Come on, aren’t you going to ask me?”

“Fine,” he relented. “What’s yours?”

“Black.”

“Okay, let’s be clear: you made fun of me because I said white and your favorite color is black?”

Raquel frowned at him, faking an offended scoff.

“Black is classic. Black is edgy. Black is timeless.”

“Well, at least black and white go well together,” he casually replied.

“Hm,” she raised her eyebrows at him.

Someone was getting cheeky.

Fearing he might have overdone it, Sergio tried to steer back the conversation to their flirtatious banter. “So, you like edgy?”

“Let’s just say I had a… rebellious rock and roll phase,” she grimaced.

“ _You_?” He provoked, pretending to be surprised.

“How did you think I got the nose stud?”

Sergio smiled, picturing Raquel in a leather jacket and ripped jeans. “How long did it last?”

“My phase? Um, a while. It started when I was 16 and my father passed,” she gulped, looking at the golden liquid in her glass to avoid his gaze. Then, she glanced at him with a mischievous expression. “Perfect age and opportunity for a teen to rebel. I did the whole shebang. I took up smoking, I snuck out to concerts, I got pierced, I got tattooed.”

“I was going to ask you about that,” Sergio chuckled, knowing for a fact that she was referring to the black moth she had tattooed under her left ribcage.

She rolled her eyes and groaned. “Ugh, if I could go back in time.”

“I like it,” he offered, sipping from his own wine.

She eyed him with a smirk. “I’m guessing you didn’t have a rebellious phase.”

“What gave it away?”

“Just a wild guess.”

“I’ll have you know that when I was in college I took longer than allowed to return the library books.”

Raquel gasped, bringing a hand to her agape mouth. “ _Troublemaker_. Someone alert Internal Affairs.”

“For your concern, it was pretty serious, the librarian almost _banned_ me," he said and Raquel hissed, teasing him. "But I convinced her otherwise. She actually came around and even gave me a nickname."

“What was it?" Her eyes widened and glistened with curiosity.

He shook his head trying to hide his defeated smile, instantly regretting that words had left his mouth.

She smiled, giving him a gentle pat on the arm. “Sergio, come on.”

He rolled his eyes, knowing for a fact that he was going to give in.

“Professor,” he muttered.

“Professor,” she echoed with a grin and he loved the way the word rolled out of her lips. “I like it, it suits you. So, what is your favorite book, _professor_?”

Sergio winced. “I _abhor_ that question.”

“What?” Raquel chuckled, taken back by his reaction.

“I cannot choose a favorite book.”

“Fine, just tell me a book you really love,” she said and he frowned. She looked at him and smiled, shaking her head. “Don’t think too hard.”

He exhaled loudly. " _Cien Años de Soledad_.”

Her head tilted sideways and she grinned. “That’s one of my favorites.”

“Don’t tell anyone, but I like it better than Don Quixote,” he stage whispered.

“Your secret is safe with me because I agree,” she murmured in return.

His lips curved into a large smile. “What about you?”

“ _The Waves_ ,” she replied in a whim.

Sergio studied her carefully and for a second she wondered what was going through his mind.

Then, he recited: “ _Espoleo al caballo. Es contra ti que me lanzo, resuelto e invencible, Muerte_.”

_“Las olas rompen en la playa.”_

_“–Las olas rompen en la playa.”_

She joined him on the last line, pleased that he even knew it by heart.

She bit her bottom lip, pensive. “What about music?”

“Tchaikovsky.”

Raquel snorted. “Don’t be a snob.”

“I’m serious!” Sergio threw his hands up in surrender.

“How am I supposed to say Van Morrison after that?”

“Um, if it brings you any comfort I don’t know who Van Morrison is.”

“Why would that _ever_ bring me comfort?” She looked at him, flabbergasted. “You really don’t know? That’s not possible. Brown Eyed Girl? Brand New Day? Someone Like You?”

Sergio shook his head timidly. “Sorry, no.”

Raquel rolled her eyes, turning her palm up in his direction like she was waiting for him to give her something. He looked at her with a confused expression.

“Okay, how do you activate your fancy sound system?” 

He scrunched up his eyes at her defiantly. “What makes you think I have a fancy sound system?”

“Um, you’re filthy rich and your favorite musician is _Tchaikovsky_. Just activate the damn thing, please.”

Sergio laughed.

“Fine,” he said, fetching his cellphone from the kitchen counter and setting it up, handing her the device. “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” she said, already tapping on his phone to search for her favorite musician. “Okay, so we’ll just go with the This Is playlist from Spotify and start from there. See, it already starts with one of my favorites.”

The melody of Van Morrison’s _Crazy Love_ began echoing through the sound system and Raquel couldn’t help but join in, soulfully singing the tune while Sergio continued cooking, thinking he wasn’t really paying attention.

_I can hear her heart beat for a thousand miles_

_Yeah, the heaven opens every time she smiles_

_And when I come to her that's where I belong_

_Yet I'm running to her like a river song_

However, while she distractingly sang into her glass of wine, he turned around to gaze at her.

“You’re a good singer,” he said and somehow a simple comment like that coming from him felt like a high praise.

“That’s sweet of you to say,” she crooked her head, biting her lip, suddenly shy and self-conscious.

_She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love_

_She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love_

“No, really. I mean it.”

She simply shrugged, bashing her eyelashes. “Years of experience singing in the shower.”

_She got a fine sense of humor when I'm feeling low down_

_Yeah, and when I come to her when the sun goes down_

_Take away my trouble, take away my grief_

_Take away my heartache, in the night like a thief_

He laughed while he poured the wine onto the pan and covered it with a lid.

“Okay. Now we wait,” he said, turning to her with the bottle still in his hand. “More wine?”

“Yes, please.”

_She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love_

_She give me love, love, love, love, crazy love_

He poured onto his own glass as well, paying attention to the words being sung. His gaze fell on her, who was still humming the song and smiled upon noticing he looked at her.

“So, how do you like it?” She asked.

“What?”

“Van Morrison,” she drew her index finger up, pointing towards the ethereal voice emanating from the sound system. “I know it’s not Tchaikovsky, but…”

“I like it. He has a beautiful voice,” he honestly conceded.

“He does, right? It’s very melodic. I love his lyrics too.”

He paused for a moment to pay attention to the next words being sung.

_Yes, I need her in the daytime_

_Yes, I need her in the night_

_Yes, I want to throw my arms around her_

Both of them raised their eyebrows at the lyrics and while Sergio felt his cheeks burn red, Raquel wanted to hide behind the counter.

“Um, he’s, uh, very romantic,” Sergio gulped, avoiding looking straight into her eyes.

“Jazz roots. Blues rock,” Raquel blurted out, unsure if the words she had said out loud even made any sense.

_Kiss her, hug her, kiss her, hug her tight_

_Yeah, and when I'm returning from so far away_

_She gives me some sweet lovin' brighten up my day_

Raquel felt her breaths become more shallow by each passing second. She knew that if she spent one more second staring at him, she would plunge into his arms and kiss him. So she decided on the adult, mature, alternate choice.

“I’ll wash the dishes then,” she offered, resting her wine glass by the sink. “Give us a head start.”

“I can set up our plates,” he complemented, hoping she had not seen the disappointed look on his face as she turned away from him.

“Good, good.”

_Yes, it makes me righteous,_

_Yes, it makes me feel whole_

_Yes, it makes me mellow down to my soul_

As the music slowly faded, it’s slow tempo was replaced by the more upbeat rhythm of _Domino_. Raquel nearly sighed in relief.

It had never been so hard to listen to Van Morrison before.

She quietly pondered if it really would be the end of the world if she actually gave in to her will. If she were to actually kiss him, hold him, fuck him. Would it really be that bad? They were already stuck in his apartment for the next 30 hours at least. Any one night stand rule she might have had already been thrown out the window. Maybe giving into it would actually help disperse the charged atmosphere.

The change of soundtrack seemed to disperse the awkwardness and soon they were talking trivialities again. By the time they had served their plates, they were already laughing and at ease. Halfway through the meal, upon his admission that he never watched any film adaptation of Jane Austen’s novels, Raquel announced Sergio _had_ to watch one of them.

She spent about five minutes debating with herself out loud which one they should watch. _Pride and Prejudice_ was tricky, because while the 2005 version was luscious in it’s cinematography, 1995’s Colin Firth was, in her opinion, the superior Darcy. There was also _Emma_ , but it wasn't her favorite, and while the thought of Sergio watching _Clueless_ was hilarious even as a figment of her imagination, she finally settled on _Sense and Sensibility_. She liked the fact that in this story, things weren't just on the verge of going wrong. They had already gone horribly wrong. And, still, there was love.

Sergio never even had a chance to rebuff the idea. He was entranced by her soliloquy – and, honestly, the fact that she wanted to do _anything_ with _him_ was more than enough for him to leap at any chance.

He would sign up for an appendectomy if she suggested it.

After they washed the dishes and poured themselves the remaining wine from the bottle, they sat in the couch as Sergio looked for the film in one of his streaming services. She asked him to close the curtains for it to feel like the movie theatre and he smiled, obliging in a heartbeat.

When he sat back on the couch, Raquel found herself mindlessly scooching closer to him, leaning against his side.

He remained still like a rock, afraid that he would disturb how perfectly close she was if he moved one finger.

Raquel knew it was a combination of factors. It was their conversation that morning, it was that perfect kiss, it was the ease with which they talked over lunch, it was Van Morrison, it was the wine, it was Jane Austen.

But past the initial twenty minutes of the film, she knew she would go mad if she didn’t touch him.

So she slowly adjusted herself next to him, interlacing her arm with his and leaning her head on his shoulder.

She could almost hear the smile that appeared on his face. Even if she couldn’t see it, she knew it. She could see it in the back of her mind.

After processing the situation and analyzing the risks, he took both his chances and her hand in his, clasping their fingers. When she further adjusted her head on his shoulder, he used his free hand to draw lazy patterns on her arm.

Raquel brought her free hand to caress the back of Sergio’s clasped hand, his knuckles, his forearm.

Without even realizing it, she let out a small, content sigh at the comfort of their setting.

Could it really be so wrong to let herself have this, just this once? Just for a fleeting moment?

She suddenly remembered their deal. _No consequences_.

Gradually, she exhaled the nervousness.

She inhaled his scent and she knew she was inebriated.

If not by the wine, by the way he smelled and the way he knew exactly how to touch her.

They spent the entire length of the film like that, immersed in gentle strokes and feather-light touches. If Raquel hadn’t watched the film a few times, she wouldn’t have known what it was about. All she could hear was Sergio’s steady breaths, all she could feel was his fingers grazing on her skin ever so softly, all she could think about was kissing him again.

Sergio, on the other hand, was hyper focused on everything. His eyes alternated between the tv screen and their clasped hands resting on his lap. He could simultaneously hear her heartbeats and the film’s lines. His skin was burning at every point they were in contact. He barely moved throughout the entire film, worried that any small movement would draw her away from him.

When the credits finally rolled and they were engulfed in the darkness, he felt Raquel’s head move as she craned her neck to look up at him. She admired his profile in the dark and noticed he stopped his caresses, probably worried that she would pull away from him like she had earlier.

“Sergio,” she incanted, bringing her free palm to cup the side of his face, drawing him to look at her.

She saw the moment his eyes sharpened to focus on her even in the dark.

She wanted to tell him she _wanted_ this, that she wasn’t running this time, that he could do whatever he wanted with her.

But no words came out through her throat.

So, instead, she closed their distance and kissed him. 

And this time, she wasn’t going to pull away.


	6. Cerca

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, lovelies! Hope you are all doing and feeling okay!
> 
> And if not, here is a smut heavy Serquel chapter in the hopes of lifting your spirits, lol. Can't wait to hear your thoughts <3

_Day One, 5:52 PM_

Raquel brushed her lips against his in slow motion. She pressed them sweetly against his own, pulling away an inch to graze her nose on his.

Still keeping her gaze focused on his, hoping to convey that she was seeing it through this time, she brought their clasped hands between them and kissed the back of his hand, letting it go so that she could lift her right leg, throw it around his waist and straddle him, putting her arms around his neck.

He looked up at her, his eyes glistening in the dark, his hands holding onto her hips. He gulped – she could do whatever she wanted with him, he didn’t care. As long as she looked at him _like that_.

She grabbed a handful of his hair and slowly pulled it to tilt his head. She leaned in again, her parted lips hovering over his, her warm breath making him lose all his senses.

This was both torture and the most pleasant feeling in the world.

She smiled as if she read his mind and bended herself to lay kisses on his neck. She felt his hands pull her closer against his chest and she could feel him stiffen under her. She pulled away to look at him hungrily and this time, when she grazed her lips on his, he crashed his mouth on hers, craving her taste.

It was everything she wanted and more. It was hot and sweet and when he rolled his tongue on hers, she forgot every shred of common sense she was supposed to have.

She moaned into his mouth and felt his bulge harden in response. She took his shirt off and her fingernails grazed his bare chest.

“Fuck, Raquel,” he groaned, clearly giving into her.

She almost shrieked when he suddenly stood up – and would have if her mouth wasn't being held captive by his. He was holding her with firm hands sprawled on her ass while he made his way towards the bed.

She continued kissing him thoroughly as he laid her down ever so carefully. When his hands found the hem of her – well, _his_ – shirt, she propped herself up from the mattress, helping him get the unnecessary fabric out of the way. He smiled at the beautiful sight in front of him and although there was lust crowning his eyes, Raquel quietly read something else in that grin.

She didn’t have much time to ponder it, because he pressed himself on top of her again and kissed her with urgency. His fingertips scraped the side of her body and she undulated her body on his, thirsty for his touch.

He parted his lips from hers to plant a trail of lascivious kisses on her jawline and neck, routing his way down to her collarbone and breasts.

She fondled his hair as he enclosed his lips around her right nipple, his right thumb and index softly pinching her left one. She sibilated as he grazed his teeth around her already hard nipple, a wave of pleasure strolling down on her, and when she exhaled, he sucked it, leaving her out of breath momentarily.

“Mmm,” she mumbled and Sergio responded by turning his attention to her right nipple.

After a moment, he pulled away, roaming his hands down her waist and finding the waistband of his own boxer briefs he had lent her. He pressed kisses on her stomach while pulling it down, throwing it somewhere in the bedroom floor, tracing kisses and feather-light fingers on her inner thighs.

Raquel didn’t know what felt better – his lips agains her skin, the softness of his touch, the way his beard tickled and aroused her in equal intensities.

She spread her legs further, signaling exactly where she wanted him, and when Sergio kissed his way towards her center, letting out a warm exhale on her sensitive core, she closed her eyes for a second.

“Sergio,” she called out. He darted his gaze toward her and saw the expression in her eyes. He could see how badly she wanted him.

Without tearing away from her eyes, he flickered his tongue on her clit.

“ _Joder_ ,” she cursed, pleasure emanating from every pore, her hands clutching at the sheets.

He smirked, delighted in offering her unmeasurable amounts of pleasure. He closed his mouth around her clit, licking and nibbling and sucking on it. She moaned louder at every turn and, after a few minutes, she could feel how close she was.

“Wait,” she pleaded. He looked up at her, stopping on his tracks with his mouth still encapsulating her throbbing center. “Come here.”

Suddenly, he parted from her and moved towards the side of the bed and she followed his movements with her eyes, trying to steady her breaths.

“I’m on the pill,” she blurted out and he looked at her from the corner of his eyes, confused. “And I’m clean. If you are– We don’t need a condom.”

Sergio took off his glasses and placed them on the nightstand. _Oh_. She felt her cheeks go red. 

But he smiled, laying down on top of her once again. “We went through this yesterday. I’m clean too.”

“Right,” she muttered, letting out a shaky exhale.

Sensing her discomfort, he pressed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss that seemed dissipate all of her worries. When he pulled away, she was looking at him hungrily once again.

“Good, because I want to feel every inch of you,” she determined and the words sent a shiver down Sergio’s spine, urging his cock even harder.

She pushed him onto the mattress, quickly getting rid of his linen pants and underwear, her eyes scanning his body, how he had luxuriously sprawled himself on the bed just for her, how hard he was already.

She leaned in, kissing him deeply, tasting herself on his lips. Slowly, she made her way down his neck and chest, laying kisses on his stomach and groin, until she finally reached his hardened cock.

She took it in her hand and ran her tongue from his base right up to his tip.

Sergio felt his eyes roll to the back of his head. He couldn’t even make out what he grumbled when she closed her lips on him, taking him into her mouth in the earnest.

“ _Joder_ ,” he groaned.

Raquel used her tongue to play around his length, her closed hand helping her reach the inches she couldn’t take inside her mouth. She could taste his precum on her lips and adventurously let her front teeth delicately graze his sensitive skin.

“ _Raquel_ ,” Sergio moaned, out of breath. “Come here, please.”

She slowly pulled him out of her mouth and sat on top of him, each leg in one side of his waist, and lifted herself while he held his cock up for her.

They could only stare at each other as she sunk down on him, the feeling on him filling her up making her back arch in ecstasy.

Raquel could live off the way he looked at her. She could feed on it like flowers fed off the sun.

She started moving on top of him, her hips rolling against his in a cadence that could only be defined as heavenly. She laid her hands against his ribs, searching for an anchor as she moved up and down, forward and back, exploring every possibility of pleasure being on top of him provided.

Sergio tried to match her movements but he was positively hypnotized by how she looked on top of him, her long hair disheveled around her face, her breasts moving at every roll she made, how she bit her lower lip when his cock surged on the spot she wanted.

She barely registered when he rolled her over, pressing himself on top of her, but she opened her eyes to find his face so close to hers all she could do was pull him in for a kiss.

They stopped moving altogether, losing themselves in their lips for a moment, until they parted to catch their breaths and he plunged himself inside her, hard.

She moaned loudly.

“Do you like that?” Sergio asked, biting his own lip in excitement.

“ _So good_ ,” she muttered. “Do it again.”

He obliged and she craned her neck at the feeling.

“Faster,” she whispered.

He moved as she asked, thrusting against her hard and fast.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she sighed.

Then, Sergio brought his thumb to her clit, moving it in circles at the same rhythm of her breaths.

Raquel groaned. “Fuck, I’m gonna–” 

“Come for me,” he whispered against her ear and that did it.

She arched her back, trembling underneath him as the orgasm surged through her like a tsunami.

He leaned in, kissing her face while she climbed down from ecstasy.

When she opened her eyes, she cupped his face and he looked at her with adoration in her gaze.

“I want you” _to come_ was what she had tried to say. But only the first three words left her lips.

He smiled at her and nodded, beginning to move inside her again, at first slow and gentle, and then picking up his pace as he went hard and fast.

He climaxed right afterwards, moaning her name as if it were a prayer on his lips.

They remained intertwined for several silent moments while catching their breaths. When he finally parted from her, he rolled with his back against the mattress.

“That was…” Raquel mumbled, still heaving, shaking her head in an attempt to find a word to describe the best sex of her life. “Heaven.”

“Yeah,” Sergio muttered back, turning on his side, his fingers drawing invisible lines on her waist, eyes fixated on her.

She looked at him, catching her breath, and simply smiled. All the voices in the back of her head had dissipated. All she could hear was the sound of them both panting in the dark.

She enjoyed it for a moment, until something surged in her mind.

“Sergio…”

“Hm?” He frowned, recognizing the different intonation in her voice, even if his fingers didn’t stop grazing her skin.

She sighed, turning on her side to face him. “I have to confess something.”

Sergio scrunched his eyes, nervous for whatever was about to come. He wanted nothing more than enjoy this moment with her. He desperately tried to keep it that way. “Does it have to be now?”

“Yes,” she smiled, bringing her own hand to caress his broad shoulders in an attempt to relax him.

“Fine,” he accepted, his index finger grazing the length of her spine up and down. “What is it?”

“I only remember last night in flashes,” she admitted, twisting her face into a guilty expression.

“Oh,” he replied, worried about that could mean.

“Don’t get me wrong, I consented and I remember enjoying myself,” she calmed his nerves, seemingly reading his mind. Then, she brought her hand to play with his beard. “It’s just… Experiencing what _just_ happened, I wish I could remember it properly. In details.”

Raquel flashed him a smile and she could swear his shoulders loosened the tension instantly.

He smirked mischievously, leaning his face to hover over hers.

“Would you like me to tell you what happened?” He asked, his voice low and inviting.

“Yes, please,” she replied, almost in a plea.

“Well, it started when you basically jumped me at the party,” he conceded and they both laughed.

“I remember _that_.”

Then, Sergio’s grin was replaced by the most seductive expression. In a sudden movement, he laid her down in the mattress and pressed his body against hers. Raquel looked up at him, startled and aroused.

He leaned in to nuzzle her neck, his lips reverberating against her skin as he asked in a raspy voice, “Do you remember when I pushed you against the wall?”

“Uh-huh,” that was all she was able to mutter.

“And then I kissed you…” He continued, interrupting himself by pressing himself further against her and squeezed his lips against hers, deepening it into a fervent kiss and Raquel moaned into his mouth.

She pulled him in with one hand on the back of his neck, the other circling his shoulders, and the way he kissed her made her clit throb – _again_.

He detached himself from her to whisper on her ear, “Just like this.”

“Hm,” she intoned, her lips swollen as she looked at him, her eyes hungry, her heart skipping, her entire body burning. How did he have such an effect on her?

“I put my leg between yours…” He further explained, pressing his thigh between hers. She surrendered instantly, spreading her legs as he rubbed himself against her. “And you moved your hips…” She unconsciously twisted her hips against him and he smirked. “Yes, like that.”

“What else?” She muttered, her voice shaky.

“And when we got here,” he continued while he laid kisses on her neck, his fingers stroking her breasts. “You sat on that stool,” his hand ventured lower, now stroking her inner thigh. “And you spread your legs open so I could taste you,” he ran a finger slowly along her wet slit.

Raquel closed her eyes and for a split second she registered the fact that he went down on her on the very stool they sat to eat _twice_ the following day.

But at the following second she could concentrate on nothing else but his middle finger flickering her clit and his warm breath against her ear as he whispered: “Do you remember how I made you come?”

A shiver went down her spine.

_Motherfucker_.

It took all of her strength for her to open her eyes and reply, in an attempt to taunt him, “ _Vaguely_.”

He boasted a wide grin, unfazed by her performance. “Let me refresh your memory.”

He applied more pressure, rubbing her sensitive spot in small circles, clockwise, counterclockwise, in patterns, she couldn’t even tell what he was doing anymore, except that he was doing it _incredibly_ well.

“Do you remember riding me on the couch?” He asked, sliding his finger inside her.

She hissed, throwing her head back. “Kind of.”

He slid another finger, applying pressure on the very spot she wanted him to.

“And when we came to the bedroom,” he whispered. She simply hummed in return, barely making out the words he was saying. “I fucked you until you screamed my name.”

He then used his thumb to stimulate her clit while still pumping her with two fingers and she saw stars against her eyelids.

Where on Earth did he learn how to do that?

“Do you remember that?”

“Y-yes,” Raquel moaned, her back arching as she ran her fingernails on his back.

Then, suddenly, he stopped.

She opened her eyes, lines creasing her forehead as she looked at him with utter confusion.

“Ah, good, happy to aid your memory,” he said, pressing a kiss on her lips and getting up from the bed.

Raquel propped herself up on her elbows, staring at him like he was crazy. “Where are you going?”

He turned around to look at her, a provocative smile dangling on his lips. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“ _Really_?” Raquel sighed loudly, letting her head fall back with a groan.

He laughed, looking at her as she hurriedly pushed the mattress and dragged herself out of the bed.

She felt her legs tremble as she walked, still recovering from his touch, but she tried her best not to stumble upon her own feet.

“Where are _you_ going?” He asked, smiling at her with a knot between his eyebrows.

“I’m going to join you,” she replied, walking past him into the bathroom, grabbing his hand and stringing him along. “And you’re going to finish what you started.”

Sergio’s smiled widened. They had barely gotten in the shower when she pulled him in for a kiss that rendered him speechless – and instantly aroused. She slid a leg around his waist and he quickly sprawled his hands on the back of her thighs, carrying her and leaning her against the wall.

She instantly circled her legs around him, his bulge pressing against her slit as warm water cascaded down on his back. She glanced up at him, running a hand through his wet hair to clear away his face.

He looked down at Raquel with his eyes burning. He wanted to savor her expression as he unhurriedly entered her. She let out a loud exhale as he filled her.

“Sergio,” she muttered, pulling his hair back for him to look at her. “If you want me to scream your name again, you better start fucking me _now_.” 

He laughed, tightening his grip on her waist with one arm as the other hand cupped the back of her head, so it would cushion the impact while he penetrated her.

“As you wish,” he muttered back, beginning to move against her, at first hard and slow, until she dug her nails on his back.

“Faster,” she demanded and he obliged instantly. She felt her eyes roll to the back of her head. “Fuck.”

Each time he plunged himself further inside her, she felt as if she were going to crumble down from pleasure. When her legs began to tremble, he knew she was close to climaxing.

“ _Sergio_ ,” she moaned louder, her back arching, spasming from the orgasm as her walls closed around his cock.

“Fuck, _Raquel_ ,” he bit his lower lip at the exquisite feeling and, soon after, he climaxed too.

They stood like that for a while, his strong arms now supporting her back and pressing her body against his, her legs circling his waist, his soft limb still inside her. She caressed his shoulders lazily and he rested his forehead against hers.

Water began to flow on his shoulders and in between them as they looked at each other silently. They shared a smile and he slowly helped her put her feet on the ground, parting from her and leaving her with a feeling of being somewhat empty without him inside her.

She sighed and he wasted no time in pulling her in for another kiss – this one far less urgent, but perfect in it’s delicacy and intensity. She tousled with his wet hair and when they finally pulled away, she shook her head with a quiet smile.

“What?” Sergio asked through a grin as he watched her wash herself with a soap.

“You are full of surprises, Professor,” she simply said and he took the soap from her hand, turning her around.

He lathered his hands and spread them across her shoulders, massaging her back in the most perfect pressure points. She felt herself relax under his touch and he took his time massaging her neck, her shoulders, her scapulas, her arms, her lower back.

She softly hummed and, when he finished, he slid his arms across her waist, pulling her wet, naked body against his and pressing his lips on her neck.

“How are you feeling?” He sincerely asked and she turned her head to glance up at him with an affectionate smile.

“Perfect,” she smiled and he laughed, his dimples and the wrinkling lines around his eyes making their appearance once again.

She turned around to face him and, in a swift movement, swapped places with him so she would now stand under the hot water.

“Don’t be a hogger,” she teased, closing her eyes and dipping her head back as the water rinsed her hair for the second time that day.

Sergio watched her with a lump on his throat. Despite having had sexual relationships with a few women before, he had never shared quite anything with them as he had been sharing with Raquel.

He didn’t share his past, he didn’t share his likes and dislikes, he didn’t share showers or sweet, intimate kisses. He was doing all of these things for the first time.

He felt like a horny, confused, lovesick teenager.

_Love_. That word felt so ridiculous yet so true.

He had only spent one day with her, but who was to say he needed more? Whoever did, didn’t know Raquel Murillo.

Right now, he would hop on a plane and fly across the world with her, her daughter, her mother. Wherever she wanted to go, whatever she wanted to do. As long as he could have her with him. And for as long as she would have him with her.

“Are you okay?” Raquel turned off the shower and looked up at him, biting her lower lip, the corners of her mouth quirked up.

“Never been better,” he smiled and she raised a hand to cup the side of his face, her thumb caressing his cheek.

They dried themselves and put on their clothes, at least partially. Raquel put on Sergio’s grey long sleeved shirt again, but only paired it with her panties. Sergio, on the other hand, put on his linen pants and, as he reached for a shirt, heard Raquel whimper.

“ _Nooo_ ,” she pouted. “No shirt.”

He smiled and threw the shirt over his shoulder on the bathroom floor, easily obliging. Raquel let out a laugh as he walked towards her and put his hands on her hips, giving her a kiss.

“Your wish is my command,” he muttered, pulling away and holding her hand. “Come on, let’s go find something to replenish our energy.”

“Mmm, why? You got something in mind?” She asked, letting him lead her towards the kitchen.

“I might have a couple of things in mind,” he replied, opening the fridge as Raquel climbed up and sat on the kitchen counter.

“What are you looking for?” She asked, her feet dangling far away from the ground.

He closed the fridge’s door and showed her a box of Belgian chocolate ice cream.

Raquel gasped, looking up at him with a serious expression. “Sergio, are you trying to win me over?”

He grinned, picking up two spoons from the drawer and walking towards her, placing himself in between her legs.

“That depends, is it working?” He defiantly asked, staring into her dark brown eyes.

She cupped his face and leaned in to plant a kiss on his lips. Then, she pulled away and turned her palm up. “Give me a spoon and we’ll see.”

Sergio smiled.

She devoured the first spoonful of ice cream and rolled her eyes to the back of her head.

“This is heaven,” she proclaimed, her mouth still full, and he chuckled.

“Oh, _this_ is heaven?” He asked, eyebrows arched in amusement.

She nodded, smiling, and aimed for another scoop of the ice cream when he pulled away the box.

“You seemed to have a different definition not long ago,” he smirked, his arm stretched behind his back as she tried to reach for the box.

She laughed. “I can have more than one definition of heaven. Give me that.”

“Or what?”

“Or you won’t get more of heaven later,” she defied, pursing her lips.

“Really?” He grinned, bringing the box back to her lap. “Far be it from me to stand between you and your religion.”

They ate spoonfuls in between laughter and kisses, Raquel sitting on the counter, Sergio in between her legs.

She circled her legs around him, her ankles and feet locked to keep him from moving.

Not that he would ever want to.

When they couldn’t bear to eat any more ice cream, he put away the box in the fridge again and turned to face her, worry creasing his expression.

“Raquel?”

“Hm?” She raised her eyebrows in expectancy.

“Look, I-I don’t want to presume anything… I mean, maybe you’d like a little more privacy overnight or something.” He explained and Raquel frowned. “Would you be more comfortable if I slept on the couch?”

She gently smiled at him.

“Sergio,” she muttered, stretching her arm out. He quickly understood, closing the distance between them, and she threw her arm around his neck. “Thank you, I appreciate your thoughtfulness… But I want you with me tonight. Is that okay with you?”

He gulped, nodding. “Y-yeah.”

“Good,” she smiled, pulling him in for a kiss. “What time is it?”

“8:26 PM,” he replied after checking his wrist watch. “Why, what do you want to do?”

She let a hand caress his naked chest as she slightly shrugged. “Well, you were the one who said something about replenishing energies…”

He grinned, sprawling his hands on her ass and pulling her against him. “Are your energies replenished?”

“Oh, yeah, _plenty_ ,” she laughed, securing her legs around his waist as he carried her back to bed. 

They spent so much time kissing and exchanging caresses, lost in each other, that she had nearly forgotten the promise of having sex again.

But when he slowly brought his kisses down her body, it was like he lit up a fuse and the electricity traveled through her body in shockwaves. He went down on her thoroughly, waking up her senses and taking his time to figure out exactly what she liked and how she liked it.

She came in his mouth after a while, her body trembling through the after shocks, and he pressed himself against her and kissed her neck while she gradually climbed down from ecstasy.

She gently caressed her nose against his cheek when she was ready and he instantly understood, positioning himself in between her legs and carefully penetrating her.

He looked down at her, without moving, and Raquel knew, in that moment, that she was fucked. That she wanted him to look at her like that everyday for as long as she lived.

Quietly, she nodded, unable to speak anything that wasn’t a gibberish moan.

And he started to move on top of her, at first slow and steady, and then hard and fast as she dug her fingernails on his back, promptly asking for more.

They came together this time, shouting each other’s name in unison, and when they finally regained their breaths, Sergio rolled over and Raquel rested her head on the hollow of his shoulder.

He smiled, letting his fingers graze the small of her back as she did the same on his neck.

“This feels good,” he mumbled, pressing a kiss on the top of her head.

She gulped, realizing herself that, _yes,_ it did feel good. More than good, it felt _right_.

She had pushed back her rationality to allow herself to enjoy the moment but now, in his arms, she realized that she didn’t want it to be just a moment. And that scared her _shitless_.

She wondered what it would be like to share more days like this with him, she wondered if he and Paula would get along, she wondered what Mariví would say if she met him.

And she cursed herself because she shouldn’t be having any of these thoughts about him, she shouldn’t be having any of these thoughts about her coworker, she shouldn’t be having any of these thoughts about _anyone_ _at all_.

She should be focused on her work and her family and she felt like she was in a romantic version of a Twilight Zone episode, where her worst fear became a reality: she was vulnerable and she was falling for him. Fast.

Her mind was racing as she realized she wanted nothing more than to stay like this for the next 24 hours and maybe every other day after that.

She frowned, deeply wishing she had not kissed him the previous night.

She never would’ve known what she was missing if she hadn’t been here. If she hadn’t been stuck with him.

“Raquel?” He called out, his voice anchoring her back to reality.

She noticed her grip around his neck had tightened, as if she were holding onto him for dear life.

She loosened her grip and looked up at him. “Yeah?”

“Did you hear me?” He asked, bringing a strand of hair behind her ear as he watched her attentively.

“Sorry, no. I was… distracted,” she shook her head.

“What were you thinking about?”

“Paula,” she lied, feeling instantly guilty for not honoring their honesty deal and for using Paula for said lie.

“Oh,” he sighed, but there wasn’t any hint of disappointment in his voice.

“I'm sorry. I’m just thinking that while I’m here with you, in this perfect little bubble… I’m not there with her,” Raquel shrugged.

She saw the lines crease in his forehead as he looked up at the ceiling and caressed his face gently.

“But I’m here,” she whispered. “What did you say?”

He shook his head, resolute. “Nevermind.”

“Sergio…”

She brought her hand to caress his chest hair and he glanced at her, a weak smile on his lips.

“Just that… I’m glad you’re here,” he muttered. “With me.”

Her eyes lit up at his admission. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Raquel took a deep breath. What good would come of it if she lied? What good would come of it if he thought he was the only one being honest?

So she took his hand in hers and kissed his knuckles, whispering back her exactly what she feared: “Me too.”

He faintly smiled and they fell into a deep, comfortable silence.

Sergio wasn’t a man of faith. He didn’t believe in God or in any deity – but he might as well have to start now. What else could explain the past 24 hours with Raquel unless a divine intervention?

Because somehow, against all his odds, Raquel’s body cuddled up against his was the last thing he saw before drifting off to sleep.


	7. Despierta

_Day Two, 3:17 AM_

Sergio was peacefully asleep until he felt a violent stab of pain in his ribcage.

His eyes darted open and it took him all of ten seconds to process that the pain had been a result from Raquel’s elbow being plunged straight into the center of his body.

She was mumbling something he couldn’t discern under her breath, drenched in sweat, moving rapidly.

“Raquel,” he called out, trying to keep a distance as to not get hit with another flying limb.

He tried to softly caress her arm, but she was moving too much. He held her hand tightly, hoping his grip would bring her consciousness back to her body.

“ _Raquel_ ,” he called out again and her eyes flew open.

She glanced at him, still sweating cold, slowly realizing where and with whom she was. She tried to catch her breath, closing her eyes once again for a moment.

He simply looked at her, waiting until she was able to speak to ask her what she needed. He loosened the grip on her hand, ready to let it go, until she held it back tightly.

“Don’t go,” she said, her voice shaky, her eyes suddenly opening and searching for him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he soothed her, running his other hand through her hair.

She quietly nodded. A wave of relief washed through her slowly. She was safe. Paula was safe. Alberto was not here. The nightmare was not real.

After a moment, she sat up, leaning against the headboard, his hand still in hers.

“Can I get you anything? Water? Tea? A towel?” He asked, worry lines framing his eyes.

“Water,” she accepted. He waited for a moment, but she was still unable to let go of him.

“You’re gonna need that?” He asked, motioning his head towards his hand.

She gave him a weak smile, exasperated, finally letting him go.

“I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Okay,” she faintly replied, hugging her knees against her chest, eyes lost somewhere on the wooden floor.

She only registered the fact he had gotten out of bed because she couldn’t feel his warmth beside her anymore. She missed it instantly.

It had been a while since she had a nightmare. They were constant for the first months after her divorce, but had been getting rarer and more spaced out over time. She reckoned that maybe the panic attack she had earlier had something to do with that. Se dried her forehead and neck with the back of her hand.

Sergio hurried back to the room with a glass of water in his hand. She took it from him gladly and downed all of it, giving him back the empty glass when he offered his hand to take it.

“More?” He asked, but she shook her head. He probably looked as lost as he felt. “What do you need? What can I do?”

She glanced at him and, even in the dark, she could see the affection and worry brimming in his eyes.

“Could you hold me?” She muttered, pools of tears forming in her eyes.

Sergio nodded in silence, putting away the empty glass and positioning himself beside her, leaning his back on the headboard. She crawled in as he opened his arms, circling her own arms around his waist, her head resting on his rising chest.

“Tighter,” she whimpered and he obeyed, pressing her further against him.

They stood like that and, for several minutes, crying was all she could do, her tears falling on his naked chest, as he let one hand caress her hair while the other embraced her as close as their skin and bones would let them.

Finally, her sobs faded and her breathing steadied, but he continued stroking his fingers in between strands of her hair.

“I haven’t had these in a while,” she said, still resting her head on his torso. He listened with attention. “The panic attack this morning, the nightmares just now.”

She cleaned the tracks of her tears with her knuckles.

“Were they frequent?” He asked, running his hand up and down her arm.

“They used to be,” she explained. “I think talking about it today might have stirred it again.” 

“I’m sorry,” Sergio frowned.

“No,” she shook her head, adjusting herself to look up at him. “This isn’t your fault. And it isn’t mine. It felt good to talk about it. Not being able to talk… I think it kind of stagnates it, you know? The healing process.”

He softly nodded, silent as he looked down at the way her legs were intertwined with his own, until he glanced at her again.

“I’ve had them too when I was a kid,” he confessed.

“Really? How did they stop?”

“A series of things, I guess. I started meditating. Took up boxing and martial arts. Exercise really helps. And therapy, of course,” he sighed. “You’ve been to therapy?”

“Yeah. But I kind of thought the therapist was a dick, so I stopped going,” she shrugged and Arturo Román’s idiotic face popping in her mind was enough to make her shiver in the worst way.

“I know a really good one. I think you’d like her,” Sergio offered, fairly certain that Mónica Gaztambide, whom he had met through her husband, was a great fit for her. “And in the meantime, you can talk to me anytime you want.”

Raquel smiled genuinely. “Thank you.”

After a moment of silence, she sat up.

“I think I’m going to take a shower.”

He nodded, sitting perfectly still as she went into the bathroom. He noticed she didn’t close the door this time and smiled softly at the realization that she had felt enough trust towards him to keep it the door open. It wasn't just a symbolism. She had opened the door to her fortress and had let him come in.

When she walked back out to the room, she had put on the shirt she was so opposed him putting on earlier. It hung until the beginning of her thighs, leaving just enough for his imagination to fill the blank.

“Stole your shirt, is that okay?” She asked, looking down at herself as she noticed him staring at her.

“It looks a thousand times better on you,” he casually replied.

Raquel laughed, even if it had a dry undertone, and climbed up in bed, laying down next to him. She proceeded on pulling the covers over them both, turning on her side and with her back facing him.

“Come here,” she pulled his hand, making him spoon her as she adapted her body under his. She only stopped when there was no inch of her body that didn’t touch his. It soothed her tremendously having him so close. “Do you mind if we stay like this?”

“Not in the slightest,” he guaranteed, comfortably nuzzling the exposed area of her neck with gentle kisses.

She contently hummed in approval and she pulled his hand closer against her chest.

“Tell me a story,” she suddenly asked and he rested his chin on her shoulder, his beard grazing her skin.

“About what?” He inquired.

“Anything,” she shrugged. “I want to hear your voice.”

“Okay,” Sergio pressed his lips against her shoulder and propped his head up with a folded arm.

He started telling her of Andrés’ 37th birthday party and exactly how – and why – Ágata stopped talking to him for two whole years. It was a lengthy, complicated story and he figured that about midway through she would have drifted to sleep.

And he was right. In between small chuckles and yawns, she dozed off and he muffled the sound of his voice until becoming completely reticent.

* * *

_Day Two, 7:24 AM_

To be honest, Sergio had not been able to sleep again. Although Raquel seemed to have slept peacefully for the rest of the night, he kept waking up to make sure that she was okay.

He gave up on trying to sleep when he checked his wrist watch and saw it was 6:30 AM, so for a while now he was just laying there trying to figure out how to get up from the bed without waking her up.

He watched her in her deep slumber as he realized she was like an open sea. She was a natural immensity, with it’s beautiful and inviting shores, but hidden in her depths there was an abyss zone unknown to mankind. And he felt like the luckiest man alive because she had given him a diving suit and allowed him to venture where no one else had trespassed.

He silently thanked her for the trust she laid upon him and could only hope to make himself worthy of it.

He finally tried to carefully pull away his arm, that was being held captive in between hers, lifting his body from the mattress, but upon his movement she stirred, turning her head sideways.

“Come back here,” she gloomily demanded, her eyes still closed.

He laughed, his weight falling down next to her on the mattress once again.

“I was going to make us breakfast,” he justified.

“Boo-hoo,” she ridiculed as she let go of his hand and pulled the covers further on top of her.

Sergio smiled and responded by kissing the spot below her earlobe, circling his arm around her waist.

“See? Far superior option,” she sighed, pleased, blinking her eyes open.

“I agree,” he surrendered, brushing his lips against her neck and shoulder as a deviant hand slid under the shirt she was wearing to fondle her breasts.

Suddenly, he stopped, and she turned her head sideways to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, her eyes still hazy from sleep.

He wanted to ask if this was okay, if she actually wanted this kind of touch after the way she had woken up in the middle of the night. He opened his mouth several times, but no sound came out.

“Don’t stop,” Raquel sighed, pushing her body against his in an attempt to get him out of his own mind.

It was the only confirmation Sergio needed. She brought her hand to cup the back of his neck and he went back to planting kisses on her neck and nibbling her earlobe.

“Hm,” she moaned and he slightly pinched one of her nipples in return.

His hand stroke it’s way down her belly and her groin and he let out a small moan, his warm breath taunting her, when he realized she had no underwear on.

His middle finger grazed her slit and he felt her back arch at his touch.

“ _Díos_ , you’re so wet already,” he muttered, delighted, and she lightly chuckled.

“I was having a very nice dream this time,” she disclosed, raising her eyebrows at him.

“Really?” He sucked on a piece of skin in her neck and she dug her fingernails on his arm. “Was I in it?”

He slid his finger inside her, pressing his tip against the one spot in her silky walls that seemed to give her an eye roll every time. Her legs spasmed, reacting instantly to his touch.

“You were,” she muttered, out of breath. Her head fell back on his shoulders when his thumb began striking circles on her clit. “ _Sergio_ …”

“Come here, I want to wake you up properly,” he demanded, turning her so her back was against the mattress and shedding the covers from them.

He spread her legs open and positioned himself in between them. He ran his finger through her slit again and she arched her back once more, although her eyes remained fixated on him.

He pressed his lips against her inner thighs, brushing the tip of his tongue on her exposed skin.

She grabbed a fistful of his hair in between her fingers, gently pulling them from his scalp, hoping to convey _where_ and _how much_ she needed him.

And when he closed his mouth on her clit, her moan echoed throughout the apartment. She was convinced – no sex would ever be better than sex with him.

He began his movements, slowly sucking and twirling his tongue around her clit in different patterns, varying in pressure.

“Sergio…” Raquel moaned and, upon hearing his name leave her lips, he amped up the speed and pressure.

Raquel found herself coming undone. She was already close to climaxing when he inserted a finger inside her.

“ _Fuck_ , Sergio,” she hissed, her back arching under his skilled touch.

When he inserted another finger, still tending to her throbbing clit, she saw stars.

She moaned his name, her legs trembling as she rode the wave of her orgasm and he continued to suck her clit and thrust her with his fingers, prolonging her climax.

When he noticed she had rode it out, he slowly drew his fingers out of her, gently nibbling her clit until he began placing kisses on her thighs, going up her waist, her breasts, until he reached her lips.

Raquel was brought back to reality when his lips crashed against hers, her taste still on his tongue, and she felt the throbbing pulse in her center climb back up. She deepened the kiss and when they parted, Sergio looked down at her with a question in his eyes.

“I want you inside me,” she replied.

He smiled devilishly and leaned in to kiss her again as the tip of his cock found her entrance.

He moved his hips around without fully entering her, playing with her entrance as she dragged her nails across his back. He thrusted himself deep inside her and she whimpered.

He placed an arm next to her to keep himself steady, freeing his other hand to travel down her body, finding her clit once again with his thumb.

“ _Sergio,”_ she moaned, tilting her hips, begging for him to continue.

He complied, beginning to thrust himself against her as she moved her hips accordingly.

She pulled him further against her and began nuzzling his earlobe just to hear him moan.

“Come with me,” she demanded, her voice low and husky.

He continued his thrust while amping up the pressure on her clit. He waited until the signs of her climax arrived – her arched back, the eyes rolled to the back of her head, her tremblings legs – so that he could give in to his own climax, emptying himself inside her.

They panted, regaining their breaths, and she looked up at him with an adoring gaze.

“Good morning,” she cupped his face, smiling, her thumb brushing his cheek.

“Good morning,” he replied, smiling as well, his dimples emerging to frame his grin.

She closed her eyes for a moment, still catching her breath.

“You want your coffee now?” He asked, trailing kisses on her neck.

She sighed, feigning an emotional expression. “You really get me, you know?”

She chuckled and he joined her in laughter right on cue.

After spending a longer moment in each other’s arms, Sergio finally got off the bed and stretched his arms out for her. She took his hands and he pulled her up. They took a quick shower, even if Raquel tried to distract him from the task at hand with stolen kisses, and partially put on some clothes again.

He dressed up another pair of linen pants, but not without Raquel taunting him about how many of those he had – “they’re _comfortable_ ”, he defended himself – and she asked for another shirt but he couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t add anything underneath it.

They went to the kitchen together and when Sergio suggested they made tortilla de patatas, Raquel salivated. As they put themselves to work, it slowly downed on Raquel that they made a good team. She had the impulsiveness, the risk-taking actions, the brass demeanor, the cheeky comebacks. He had his rationality and pragmatism, the overzealous way in which he thought too hard about his actions and words, his gentle and timid demeanor, the wit and warmth with which he talked and listened to her.

His assumption was always that she knew better, that she was the one in control, that with one look or word from her he would instantly retract. He was attentive and considerate and intelligent and he cooked like a renowned chef and he kissed her like his life depended on it and he fucked her like she would imagine Bacchus fucked Ariadne.

And it was because she realized how well they worked together that she understood that they needed to talk.

She waited until after they ate and washed their dishes, engaging him as they exchanged childhood stories and teen embarrassments for as long as they were busy. 

She watched him dry his hands in a cloth and turn around to face her. Then, she looked at him tenderly, her bottom lip grasped between her teeth. 

“Sergio, can we talk?”

He looked at her, confused. Wasn’t that exactly what they were doing for the past forty minutes?

“About something specific?” He asked, his forehead creased into a frown.

“About this,” she explained, motioning with her at the invisible link between them. “Whatever it is that is going here, with us.”

“Okay,” he nodded. “What exactly do you want to talk about?”

“Um, we shared quite a lot yesterday,” she granted, her gaze torn between his confused expression and the kitchen floor. “I feel like… we _really_ opened up to each other.”

“Me too,” he nodded, a faint smile still dangling on his lips. “Isn’t that good?”

“It is,” she agreed, her eyebrows raised in assurance. “It is good. It feels good to be here with you and as long as we’re here, I’m present. I’m here. But when this is over… When we go back to the real world…”

His entire expression crumbled. A part of him knew it – knew it was too good to be real.

She looked around and shrugged, unsure exactly of how to put it clearly to him.

“I don’t want a relationship,” she blurted out. “I’m… not saying _you_ want it, but I know myself and I’m _quite_ intense. And I feel like I need to pull the breaks right now.”

Raquel took a moment to glance at him and she wished she hadn’t. She deeply wished she hadn’t seen the look of devastation on his face.

“Did I say anything? Or do anything that…” He trailed off, utterly lost.

“No, no, it’s not that,” she sighed, looking for a way to explain herself.

Sergio shook his head. They were fine just minutes ago. Talking, laughing, sharing a meal.

Raquel was a force of nature. He knew _that_. He had quietly compared her to an open sea when they were lying together earlier, but he realized he was wrong. She wasn’t the ocean, she was a fucking tornado. And he was nothing but the dust swirling around her.

In a little over 24 hours Raquel had managed to turn his life upside down. He was visibly frustrated. Every time he felt like he got an inch closer to her, she pulled the rug from under him.

“Sergio, look, I don’t want anything serious between us, I never did, and this is starting to feel… quite serious, isn’t it?” She pondered.

When he didn’t reply, she continued.

“I mean, at this pace, can you imagine where we would be by New Years?” She chortled and her ability to make fun of the situation made his blood boil inside him. “It’s just… This kind of feels like…”

“A terrible idea,” he said, echoing words she had said to him the previous morning, but his voice was deep and raspy and she could tell he was hurt.

“Sergio…” She tried to amend, but he faked a thin smile and interrupted her.

“It’s okay,” he shrugged, speaking through gritted teeth. “You’re being honest about how you feel. Don’t worry. When you leave tomorrow, everything will go back to the way it used to be. You have my word.”

And with that, he turned around and disappeared into the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorryyyy but it is necessary for the story!!
> 
> At least there is nowhere either of them can escape to run from each other lmao.


	8. Bajo el Mar

_Day Two, 8:51 AM_

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck _fuck_.

That was it.

If there was a prize for the worst DTR conversation ever, Raquel was sure the trophy was hers.

She wasn’t quite sure how everything went so wrong so fast. It was supposed to be an honest conversation about her fears and insecurities, but it escalated into something personal and she cursed herself a thousand times for not being eloquent, for not being clearer before letting herself get lost in him.

She wanted his kiss, his embrace, his smile. She wanted it so bad she ignored all of the warning signs going off in her head. She wanted it so bad she didn’t even stop to think about what it meant for him.

It was selfish.

He was hurt and he had every reason to be. From his perspective, she was simply using him. She sighed.

She could see from the living room that Sergio was laying in bed with a book in his hand, most likely trying to escape into another realm to avoid the fact that she was just in the next room.

She bit her bottom lip, reaching for her phone. Two missed calls and three messages from Ágata. _Shit_.

<<Morning, sunshine! Are you  
as hungover as me?  
Was your flight delayed too?>>

<<Raquel, where are you?!>>

<<Well, I called your mom,  
I know you’re alive.  
Just, please, send me a smoke  
signal so I know you’re okay?>>

<<Sorry, Ags. I’m fine.I’m still  
stuck in Coruña. You too?>>

Raquel saw the three little dots blinking almost instantly.

<<FUCKING FINALLY.>>

<<You’re forgiven if you tell me  
you were busy fornicating.>>

<<I will neither confirm  
nor deny this claim.>>

<<JODER!!!!!>>

<<🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉>>

<<It was Sergio, wasn’t it?>>

<<Wtf, Ágata?>>

<<I KNEW IT. I saw him sneaking out  
to the balcony right after you.>>

<<Is he good in bed?>>

<<Wouldn’t I have replied  
sooner if he wasn’t?>>

<<Okay, okay, okay. Then what are  
you doing replying now?>>

<<Go. Get. It.>>

<<We’re not in a good  
place right now.>>

<<What did he do?>>

<<Tell me and I’ll break his face.>>

<<Here’s the thing…  
It’s kind of my fault.>>

<<????>>

<<I’ll tell you later. I’m still  
wrapping my head around it.>>

<<Okay. Let me know if you need  
anything. I’ll be basically marathoning  
reality shows until tomorrow.>>

<<Thanks, love. Take care.>>

<<You too.>>

<<And go get some action, please.>>

Raquel weakly smiled and closed her messages. Without thinking too much, she pressed her mother’s number. It took her a couple of rings, but she picked it up.

“Hi, mamá,” she voiced out with some difficulty.

“Hola, hija, como estás?” Mariví asked and Raquel could hear Paula singing over a cartoon in the background. It made her smile, but tears sprang in her eyes nevertheless.

“Bien,” she lied, her voice nearly shattering.

But her mother clearly knew better. “Raquel? What’s wrong?”

Sometimes she hated that she was so transparent to her mother.

“Nothing, mamá, I really miss you guys, that’s all,” she cleaned the stubborn tears that fell down her cheek with her knuckles.

“Are you all alone there? Ágata called me, she seemed worried at first but then told me you were probably with a friend,” her mother continued. “Is it a male friend?” She inquired with a tease in her voice.

Raquel sighed, letting out a small chuckle. “Yeah.”

“Cariño, are you hurt?” Mariví’s voice lowered so Paula wouldn’t hear her and Raquel thought her heart would break in a thousand pieces.

“No, mamá, I’m safe,” she assured her, her voice determined not to leave any room for her concern. “It’s just… the past is catching up with me, that’s all.”

“Oh,” her mother paused for a moment, pondering her words. “Well, make sure the past doesn’t taint your present or your future, hija. You deserve to be happy. God knows you do.”

“Gracias, mamá,” she bit her lip, her mother’s words echoing inside her head.

“Do you want me to put Paula on the phone?” Mariví asked, always able to anticipate her daughter’s needs.

“Yes, please,” Raquel gladly accepted.

“Mamá?” Paula’s voice reached Raquel like a blanket in a cold night.

“Hi, cariño. How are you?” She asked, but she suddenly couldn’t hear anything on the other line. She took the phone from her ear and glanced at the screen.

No reception.

_Great_. That was the cherry on this shit cake.

She threw her phone on the couch and brought her face into her palms.

There was only one thing she could do now. Make amends.

She got up from the couch slightly trembling. It took all of her courage to approach the bedroom and she felt like she was walking with her tail between her legs.

“Hi,” she tried, leaning against the wall facing the bed.

She saw his body stiffen and his jaw clench, but his eyes remained focused on the open book in his hands, even if he wasn’t absorbing one word of it.

She bit her lip, watching him silently for a moment. Ever since Alberto, it was like her internal compass was broken. She didn’t trust herself or her gut, that was a given. It was her defense mechanism. It was what had saved her after Alberto, that one small thread that bound her to sanity. But Sergio seemed different than, well, _every other man_ she had met.

This was a man who spent his childhood in a hospital, who stayed in an abusive household because he loved his brother, who waited hand and foot on her after her panic attack, who held her while she cried for endless minutes after a nightmare.

“I don’t want things to go back to the way they used to be,” she said.

She got his attention, she knew that, even if he refused to glance up at her.

Nonetheless, she continued. “I don’t think things _can_ go back even if we tried.”

She approached the bed, carefully observing his milimetric reactions. When he didn’t move, she climbed up in bed, crawling to him in all fours and she could tell he was becoming flustered because he tried to look away to the opposite direction.

Sergio could feel his heart beating – no, _pounding_ – in his chest as she got closer to him. He wished she didn’t have this effect on him, but she did. She was like a magnet and being one inch apart from her hurt him physically. There was a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t shake.

“Besides…” She incanted, sitting on her ankles when she approached his side, forcing him to have her in his field of vision.

Raquel ran a tongue on her bottom lip and for a second she could swear his eyes flickered to her mouth before averting to the other side of the room.

“If we were to revert things, I wouldn’t be able to do this,” she leaned in, kissing him delicately and running her hand through his bare chest.

She pulled away, looking at the brown eyes hidden behind his thick-rimmed glasses, and he unwillingly gazed back at her, putting away his book next to him. And then, his eyes focused solely on her. It was like pulling back a curtain and watching the sun rise. Raquel smiled.

He barely shook his head and his entire face expressed consternation. He knew she had him in the palm of her hand and he felt like a crumbled piece of paper she was had thrown in the trashcan and decided it was actually important three seconds later.

She continued caressing his chest and he let out a loud exhale, rolling his eyes. She was _relentless_.

“Do you want to know how I really feel?” She asked him. He gulped, staring straight into her eyes as he waited for the answer.

She inhaled briefly while she closed the distance between them with another kiss. She let her lips do the job of convincing him how she felt – she kissed him deeply, her hand stroking his hair, biting his bottom lip and demanding his full attention with her mouth.

Sergio muffled a groan and let his own hand cup the back of her head, pulling her further against him. This was ridiculous, they had argued less than twenty minutes ago – how on Earth could he miss her already?

Raquel moaned at the softness and warmth of his lips on her. She wanted to get lost in those kisses, she wouldn’t kiss anyone else for the rest of her life if she could keep kissing him.

She parted from him, resting her forehead on his as they tried to catch their breaths.

“I’m really sorry,” she apologized in earnest, her forehead creasing against his. “For what I said, for how I said it. It wasn’t fair.”

Sergio could feel her destroying the armor he had put on, piece by piece. Her voice alone was enough to make him forgive her. She pulled back, hoping he could see in her face how remorseful she was.

“Especially given how kind you’ve been to me,” she shrugged with one shoulder, her eyebrows tied into a knot.

“It’s not just kindness, Raquel,” he finally replied. And his voice, no matter how stern it was, was music to her ears. “Yesterday, with you… It was easily the best day of my life.”

It was Raquel’s turn to gulp. “Sergio…”

“I’m not exaggerating,” he quickly amended. “But I understand if you’re not on the same page, I don’t want to pressure you at all.”

“Sergio, it’s not that I’m not on the same page,” she tried to explain. “I-I feel this too, you know?”

“I really don’t,” he sighed. “I feel like I’m going crazy here. One minute you’re hot and the next you’re cold and I can’t help but feel like I’m the only one who actually wants to be here. Who wants to be with you.”

She closed her eyes momentarily, cursing inwardly for making him think for a second that she didn’t want him.

“I wasn’t saying that I don’t _want_ this,” she muttered, and her voice broke as she continued. “But I’m honestly _so_ scared that I do. Because you’re kind, yes, but so was he. You’re charming, yes, but so was he,” she felt tears streaming down her cheek. “And the last time I let myself go all in…”

She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

_Fuck_. Sergio’s breath hitched. He hadn’t considered that. He was so busy with his anxiety and his insecurities that he didn’t even register how she must have felt. He had never felt smaller in his life.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t…” He couldn’t find any words to convey his remorse. “Raquel, I-I didn’t think– I’m sorry I got upset.”

“It was your right to be upset,” she took his hand in hers, noticing his eyes were suddenly swollen and glistening and he was trying to keep his tears from falling. “Sergio, it was an argument. It wasn’t one of my finest moments either.”

“But I was stupid. So stupid,” he adjusted himself on the bed, holding her hand in a tighter grip. “I should have been more mindful. I should’ve known this isn’t about me.”

“It’s not just about me either,” Raquel replied. “It affects the both of us. And I should have considered your feelings, cariño.”

His gaze softened as he heard the last word. _Cariño_. No one had ever called him that in his life.

He swallowed dry. “This isn’t easy.”

“I know,” Raquel nodded, caressing the back of his hands. 

“Why don’t you tell me how you feel?” Sergio asked, tilting his head slightly to add: “With words this time, please.”

She chuckled, taking some time to actually mull over her words. She didn’t want to fuck this up again.

“I’m feeling… thrilled… by this deep connection with you,” she said, smiling. “It’s something I didn’t think I’d ever get to feel about anyone ever again. And I adore how you make me laugh and feel special and cared for.”

Sergio smiled weakly. That was all she deserved. Why was it special if it was everything she should’ve received?

“But it also scares me,” she grimaced. “Because I can see that you’re not holding back and I wish I could assure you that I’m not going to… but I can’t. And it makes me feel like shit. Not knowing what I can give you.”

He looked at her like she was a crazy and for a second, Raquel worried for what he would say.

“Raquel, you don’t owe me any assurances,” he shook his head. “In fact, you don’t owe me _anything_. Everything I do, it’s out of my free will. I’m not going to hold it against you if you experience things at your own pace. It shouldn’t weight on you how I experience things myself.”

She must have been looking at him with stars in her eyes, because she couldn’t believe the words out of his lips. “You’re right,” she whispered.

His lips curved up and he brought a hand to cup her cheek. She leaned against it and swallowed her own doubts. He caressed her cheek with his thumb before putting a rebellious strand of hair behind her ear.

“So what do you _really_ want to do?” He asked, raising his eyebrows at her in expectation.

“I guess…” She bit her bottom lip considering her answer very carefully. “I was wondering if we could experience whatever this is without the pressure of defining anything for now.”

Sergio’s eyes lit up instantly.

“I don’t need to define anything,” he assured her. “There’s no rush. I never said anything about–”

“I know,” she interrupted, shaking her head in frustration. “And I’m sorry about that too. I was jumping the gun. See, I told you I’m intense,” she chortled.

“Well, I’m not scared of intensity,” he grinned and Raquel felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders.

She let out a loud exhale before continuing. “Sergio.”

“Yeah?” He lifted his eyebrows.

“How do _you_ feel?” She asked with a tilt of her head.

He shook his head dismissively. “You know how I feel.”

“Tell me,” she pleaded. “Please.”

Sergio looked around the room. He had read countless books and poems about love and nothing, _nothing_ , had prepared him to describe his own feelings to her. He took a deep breath.

“I… I feel like I was living in a slumber and you woke me up,” he admitted and Raquel gulped at his description. “I feel like you are the most incredible person I’ve ever met. You’re intelligent and strong and brave and funny. And even if I could turn back time, I wouldn’t change the past two days for anything.”

Then, he squinted his eyes.

“Maybe I would go back five months and decree a state of emergency in your office,” he admitted and she chuckled. “Or go back six years and beat the shit out of the man who thought he could a lay a finger on you that was not in a caress.”

Raquel’s eyes watered once again and she knew. She _knew_ in her heart he was different.

“Raquel, I spent my entire childhood worried about the present and dismissing the future. Even after I was cured, I still expected nothing and desired nothing. For years. For my whole life,” he explained. “And then you came along and all I want is to live another day even if it’s just to spend one minute with you. I didn’t expect this either, but I’ve fallen for you,” her jaw dropped at his admission. “And I don’t want this to fade. So whatever you want to do, whatever gets me another minute with you, I’m game.”

She tried to find any word to possibly reply all of that to, but all she could muster was an emotional “Okay.”

“Okay?” He echoed, a hopeful smile on his lips.

“I’m not sure how or at what pace. I can’t give you guarantees,” she shrugged. “But yes. Yes, please.”

She broke into a large grin and he mirrored it instantly. Then, she threw her hands around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss to seal their accord. They enjoyed the moment, in between long and passionate kisses and sweet, short ones. Finally, she rested her forehead on his, letting out a relieved exhale.

He quietly nodded and she receded, laying down with her head on his lap, her fingers grazing his forearm as he caressed the top of her head.

“What were you reading?” She asked, glancing up at him.

He picked up his book again and showed her the cover. _La Isla Bajo el Mar,_ Isabel Allende.

“Read me something,” Raquel requested and he opened the book without hesitation.

“He was a warrior, that love of mine, like the name that his father gave him, Gambo, which meant warrior. I whispered his forbidden name when we were alone, Gambo, and this word still resonated in my veins. It cost him many beatings to respond to the name they had given him here and hide his true name. Gambo, he told me, pointing at his chest after the first time we loved each other. Gambo, Gambo, he repeated, until I dared to say it. Then, he’d speak in his tongue and I’d reply in mine. It took some time for him to learn Creole and to teach me some of his language, the same my mother wasn’t able to teach me, but since the beginning we didn’t need to speak. Love has mute words, more transparent than a river,” he finished, closing the book to look at her once again.

“Love has mute words, more transparent than a river,” she repeated, letting the words sink in.

“That doesn’t seem very rational,” he frowned.

Raquel bit her bottom lip. “When did rationality have anything to do with love in the first place?”

He opened his mouth to respond, but all of his arguments fell short.

“You’re right,” he finally conceded.

“You’re damn right I am,” Raquel smiled. “Sergio,” she called out. “Come lay with me.”

“Okay,” he agreed. She propped herself up from his lap, resting her head on a pillow, and he arranged himself next to her, each laying on their sides to look at each other. She slid a leg in between his and brought a hand to caress his beard.

“I was wrong, you know? This wasn’t a terrible idea,” she said, hoping to push away his insecurities once and for all.

He arched his eyebrows. “It wasn’t?”

“No.”

He smirked. “How would you define it then?”

Raquel hummed, musing her reply.

“Exceptional,” she said, planting a kiss on his cheek. He smiled.

“Tremendous,” on the other cheek. “Fantastic,” another one on his lips.

Sergio smiled, shaking his head, gazing at her with adoration.

“Marvelous. Proficient. Surpassing. Unmitigated,” she continued, each word paused by another smack of her lips on his, as Sergio simply laughed.

“Unmitigated, huh?” He cogitated through a smile. She mirrored his grin, shaking her head.

“Unlike your night of rest,” she replied and he frowned at her. “You have dark circles,” she brushed her thumb under his eye, gazing back into his brown pupils. “Couldn’t go back to sleep?”

He shook his head negatively, unable to explain to her out loud the reason he couldn’t fully close his eyes again. But he didn’t have to. She knew. And it made her feel a thousand times worse for the way she left things earlier. So she took off his glasses, carefully putting them away, and leaned in to press a gentle, grateful kiss on his lips.

When she pulled away, she kept a hand on his neck, caressing his skin. She gazed at him and offered a small, quiet nod. They were past the need of words now.

Adjusting herself on the bed, she pulled him to lay with his head resting on her chest, one of his legs draped around her tiny frame as her fingers delicately brushed his hair and neck. She watched zealously as he closed his eyelids at her touch.

She hated knowing that she was capable of hurting him. And on the other hand, she was equal parts happy and scared of knowing that she was able to make him safe and cared for.

She smiled at the way his body fit against hers, the way he deliberately and irrevocably gave himself away to her so quickly.

It scared her, thinking he had launched himself into the canyon without even checking for a parachute, because deep inside she knew she was far too broken to do the same, even if she felt the same burning desire.

And while they both drifted off to sleep, limbs intertwined on the bed as if they were one, Raquel wondered if she could offer him any safety in his free fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully y'all can forgive me and Raquel now. For those of you expecting make up sex: don't worry. It'll come and it will be, ahem, delicious. 😏 The dumdums just needed to talk it out for now and I wanted a fluffy make up.
> 
> Also, you may have noticed I updated the final chapter count. I kept going back and forth on my story planning, but I think I finally got it!! I know it's sad to see a story near it's ending, though I can promise you there's more where this came from. And, well, if there's one thing we're really blessed is the amount of talented writers in this fandom!
> 
> Excited to hear your thoughts! Take care and communicate with your loved ones during this quarantine, loves ❤️


	9. Caliente

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovelies!
> 
> Sorry for not updating this weekend, I had so much work to do last week – a lot of it involving writing pages and pages – so I was just burned out when I thought about writing more lol.
> 
> Hopefully this chapter makes it up for the wait <3

_Day Two, 11:08 AM_

Sergio was not quite sure how long he fell asleep for. In fact, he was not even quite sure he was awake. He was somewhere between his dreams and reality because even though he could feel his weight on the mattress, he could feel Raquel’s lips brush against his neck and cheek laying several kisses on him.

And that ought to be a dream.

“Wake up, sleepy head,” her voice lulled him back to reality gradually and he opened his eyes, slowly regaining consciousness.

Raquel had an elbow against the bed, her head leaning against her hand, and she was half laying on the bed, half laying on top of him, her other hand stroking his beard.

They must have shifted positions while they slept, but that wasn’t important. The important facts were that she was cuddling against him, a smile in her lips, her body pressed against his as they laid together in his bed. She laid another kiss on his cheek as he recalled their earlier conversation and broke into a smile.

“You’re cute when you’re asleep,” she commented, stroking her fingers on his chest.

“Were you watching me sleep?” He smirked and she feigned a scoff.

“You were laying on top of me and I couldn’t move! There was nothing else to do,” she explained, a grin coming through nonetheless. “I had to use all of my strength to push your back onto the mattress.”

“And still, you didn’t move,” he offered a pompous smile.

“And you purse your lips when you’re sleeping,” Raquel teased.

“I do not,” he defended himself.

“You do too. Like this,” she tried to mimic the expression with her own lips before breaking into a smile.

Sergio laughed and shook his head. “You’re making that up.”

She raised her eyebrows defiantly. “You will never know.”

He chuckled, taking his time staring at her and drinking her in. Her loving gaze, her silky hair framing her beautiful face, the one vein in her forehead that popped out when she was focused, how her front teeth were prominent in her grin, making it all the more adorable.

She seemed to notice he was cataloguing all these details, shaking her head slightly.

Sergio simply put a strand of hair behind her ear. “What time is it?”

“Lunch time,” she announced, giddy.

“And what are we cooking?” 

She let her head fall to his chest, letting out a disappointed growl.

“Can’t we order in?” She asked, craning her neck to look at him again. “Don’t you have like a drone or something that can bring us some pizza? Maybe a combat helicopter? A flying butler? A robot cook?”

She smiled and Sergio laughed. “What am I? El Inspector Gadget?”

“Oh, so you’re the inspector now?”

“No, that spot is well reserved for you,” he assured her, his thumb brushing her cheek gently. “I can cook for us, if you’re hungry.”

“You wouldn’t mind?”

“Not at all,” he shook his head and Raquel smiled again, leaning in to press a kiss on his lips.

“I’ll keep you company then and wash the dishes later,” she offered.

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

She rolled over in bed, getting up and stretching her arms out in front of her. He held both her hands and she pulled him until he was sitting in bed.

He picked up his glasses from the nightstand and they made their way to the kitchen. Raquel sat on the counter once again as she watched him study the fridge.

“What do you want to eat?” He asked.

She shrugged. “Whatever’s fastest. I’m hungry.”

“Pasta then?” He offered, raising a glass jar filled with what looked like homemade tomato sauce.

She nodded with excitement and he placed it on the counter, putting the pack of noodles next to the sink and a pot filled with water in the stove.

Raquel watched him move around the kitchen, for the first time in the last two days, completely carefree. She decided to let herself enjoy this – him, his company, this last day together before taking this unnamed, unknown thing into the real world. And she couldn’t help the butterflies in her stomach when he glanced at her with a smile, noticing she was staring.

“Come here,” she asked and he walked towards her without a second thought.

She spread her legs open for him to come closer, circling her arms around his neck, his hands finding that one spot in her waist he seemed to be so fond of.

For a moment they just gazed at each other silently, wearing silly smiles on their faces, and she savored that – it was the first time there was no awkwardness, no unsaid words, no tension. Just two people who had admitted their feelings for one another, who had the luck of it being mutual, of having found each other, of being together no matter _how_.

She gently rubbed her nose against his and his smile grew into a grin so pure she wanted to bottle it away for safe keeping. She bit her lower lip, still smiling, bringing one hand to frame his grin. Her grip slowly grew into a brush of his beard and she pressed her lips against his ever so softly.

She let out a small, content sigh after her lips found his, her hand following it’s own path down his bare chest.

He leaned in, pressing another small kiss on her lips. And another. And another.

And when he closed the distance for yet another, she held his head in place, deepening the kiss, pressing herself against him as her tongue trailed down his bottom lip, asking permission to explore his mouth.

He didn’t have to think twice, parting his lips to give her full access, his own tongue exploring her mouth simultaneously, his hand finding his way to the back of her head. They kissed fervently, prepared to memorize the sensation of each other’s lips, and when they breathlessly pulled away, their lips still parted, all they could do was simply inhale and exhale with an inch from each other.

Raquel could feel the heat between her legs when Sergio gently tugged at her hair, forcing her to look at him, her lips parted at the exquisite feeling of his grip on her.

“I thought you were hungry?” He asked, his voice so hoarse it brought a shiver down her spine.

“I am definitely hungry,” she raised her eyebrows with a teasing smirk, taking off his glasses and putting them away in the counter, and he chuckled.

Without missing a beat, he pressed his lips on her neck, giving it a delicate bite before running the tip of his tongue from her neck all the way to her earlobe. She let out another sigh, one arm pulling him against her by his broad shoulders, her other hand immersed in his brown hair.

He took her earlobe in between his lips and teeth, bringing one hand to cup her left breast, and she let out a small moan. How was it that the shy, nervous, nerdy Sergio was the same man who made her feel so hot and bothered?

Just when she finished that thought, he put his hands on her ass and pulled her to the edge of the counter, curving himself forward and brushing his hands on her inner thighs. Raquel leaned back, granting him the access to touch her where she so desperately needed him to. 

However, he took his damn time – tracing kisses on her inner thighs and running his hands on her bare legs. Sergio was already incredibly turned on just by looking at her on that counter. He wanted to make her feel as good as she made him feel. His mouth hovered over her center, his warm breath making her arch her back in anticipation. He took the tip of his tongue and stroke her slit gently.

“ _Sergio_ ,” she moaned, her grip on the counter growing more firm. “Please…”

He didn’t need to hear it twice. He took one glance at her before closing his mouth on her clit, skillfully tending to her throbbing center as she spasmed and moaned at his every turn and movement.

Raquel let herself get lost in that moment, in the way his mouth felt against her, in how he was able to read the smallest of her movements, knowing exactly when and where to apply the pressure, the rhythm, the grazing of the teeth. She was gripping so hard on the counter she could imagine her knuckles turning white.

“I want to hear you,” she heard him say, his hoarse voice traveling through the air like a breeze. And she obliged, noticing that she was so focused on his movements that she was biting her own lips. She began breathing out louder, moaning overtime he made her get so close to the edge she would see stars.

“ _Joder_ , Sergio,” she muttered.

In response, he simply amped the pressure just the way she liked it and that was what did it for her. She moaned louder, her legs spasming, her back arching and twisting at the exquisite feeling of coming on his mouth. He gradually released her throbbing clit from his mouth, placing gentle kisses and rubbing his beard against her inner thigh as she breathed her way back to Earth after the climax.

She released the grip on the edge of the counter and let her head fall back one last time, letting out a laughter. He smiled in return, standing up and offering his hands for her. She grabbed them and he helped pull her up, her hair disheveled as her eyes gazed at him with unparalleled hunger and familiarity. Sergio didn’t even notice he had swallowed dry until she broke into a grin and pulled him for a kiss, eager to show him just how much she had enjoyed his lips on her.

It didn’t take long for the grateful kiss to turn lascivious, feverish, urgent. They pulled away an inch to regain their breaths, but Sergio pulled her bottom lip in between his teeth. She smirked, bringing her hand into his pants to grab his hard bulge.

He practically grimaced at her touch, the softness of her hands stroking and massaging him as she gazed at him with smoky eyes. When he let out a moan, she sighed, letting go of him only to bring her hands to the waistband of his pants and pull them down. She climbed down of the counter and he smiled at how small she suddenly seemed. She seemed to have read his mind and smiled back, shaking her head.

Then, she circled one of her legs on his waist, easing his access. He nodded, holding the base of his shaft to press against her wet slit. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head at the feeling of him so close.

He entered her slowly, her lips parting as she took count of every inch that filled her. When he had inserted himself all the way inside, he kissed her lips and she threw her arms around his shoulders.

“Fuck me,” she demanded, almost in a whimper.

He plunged himself into her, hard, and she exhaled in a wistful moan. How fucking _good_ could someone feel?

He thrusted inside her in a moderate rhythm, until she dragged her fingernails on his back.

“Faster,” she moaned against his ear and there wasn’t anything she would ask that he wouldn’t do.

He fucked her hard and fast as their moans grew louder and louder at every thrust.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he muttered, marveled at how her silky walls felt on him, undulating at every one of her pleasurable spasms.

She rolled her shoulder, letting out a deep sigh, “I’m going to–”

Before she could even finish her sentence, he brought his hand between their groins, pressing his thumb in circles against her clit, and she arched her back, thanking silently that he was holding her up or else she would have fallen into the ground.

“ _Sergio,_ ” she moaned, sinking her fingernails on his back.

It was her cue and Sergio finally let himself go, allowing the waves of pleasure to take him too. “ _Raquel_ …”

They climaxed together, dripping in sweat, Sergio hardening his grip around Raquel’s waist so she wouldn’t fall. She let her forehead rest on his shoulders, still panting.

When he finally regained his breath, he heard the sound of bubbles popping in boiling water and realized all that heat wasn’t _just_ from the sex. 

“Oh, shit,” he unwillingly parted from her, pulling up his pants and quickly running to the stove to lower the temperature.

Raquel started laughing, bringing a hand to her mouth as she watched him try and approach the stove without the bursts of hot water dripping on him. After finally being able to turn the stove’s handle enough to lower the flames, Sergio couldn’t help but start laughing too. At this point, Raquel’s belly was already hurting.

He turned his head to look at her, in all her post-coital glow and glory, body crooked and face red from laughing so hard.

He continued to laugh as he placed the noodles on the _extremely_ boiling water and walked over to where she was sitting. Raquel took a deep breath, her burst of laughter gradually being replaced by spaced out chuckles.

“I’m sorry,” she said in between snickers. Sergio simply shook his head, still grinning. “It was just so funny,” she chortled again.

“Well, let’s just be thankful we didn’t start a fire,” he mused, smiling, and Raquel brought a hand to caress his face.

“You’re right, I’m sorry, cariño,” she brushed her thumb on his cheek, her smile still fixated.

He couldn’t understand why she was apologizing – he would have lived in her laughter forever.

“If it makes you laugh like that again, I’ll do it a hundred times over,” he muttered and her grin gave way to a warmer smile.

She leaned in giving him a quick kiss before picking up his glasses and putting them back on his face.

She studied his face for a moment and, after a small exhale, pulled him in for a hug. Her arms circled his shoulders, her nose snuffing the crook of his neck, her breasts pressed against his chest through the thin fabric of the shirt she was still wearing. It took Sergio half a second to properly understand what was happening before circling his own arms around her waist and letting his face get buried against her long hair.

They stood like that for a couple minutes, until Raquel placed a kiss on his neck and pulled away.

“You should check the noodles,” she suggested in a whisper, faintly smiling.

He nodded, overwhelmed by how much power this woman had on him, and stepped away to check on the pasta. Raquel watched as he drained the noodles and set it in a tray, covering it with the tomato sauce.

She jumped off the counter and placed their plates and cutlery in the kitchen island, unable to hide a smile at the intimacy of the moment.

They sit to finally enjoy their lunch in between laughter and teasing. The conversation was back to flowing easily between them and Raquel felt as light as a feather. She was honestly loving every second spent with him now – ever since coming clean about her fears and insecurities, it was as if the small voice in the back of her head had simply vanished. She could focus properly on every word out of his mouth, every expression line that crinkled in his face when he spoke or smiled, every time he nudged his glasses.

It took her a moment to finally wrap her head around the realization that she was _happy_.

Raquel had asked him if she could put on a playlist she had made herself and he was instantly compelled. Now, she was washing the dishes humming to _Islands in the Stream_ when Sergio’s arms surrounded her waist and he planted a kiss on her cheek.

“I’m going to take a shower, okay?” He muttered.

“You’re not gonna wait for me?” She pouted, glancing over her shoulder.

Sergio smiled. “We should probably take turns on the shower, don’t you think?”

She faked a mortified gasp. “You’re saying you don’t want to shower with me?”

He chuckled. “I’m saying we’ll run out of hot water if we do.”

“Oh, you think I’ll distract you with other activities?”

“Are you saying you won’t?” He leaned against the sink, raising his eyebrows at her defiantly.

Raquel raised her own eyebrows before shrugging, defeated. “Well, no, I can’t promise that.”

“That’s what I thought,” he said, settling the matter and kissing the corner of her mouth before going to take his shower.

Raquel finished the dishes and followed his suit soon after he came off the shower. When she came out into the living room wearing a sweatshirt he had laid out for her, she found him laying down on the couch reading his book again while Etta James’ voice sang _I’d Rather Go Blind_. She smiled fondly when she noticed one of his index fingers was swirling in the air on the rhythm of the music.

She made her way towards him and laid on top of his body, urging him to throw the book somewhere on the floor. He placed his hands on the small of her back as she rested her chin on the back of her hand, looking at him thoughtfully.

“I want us to talk about something,” she said, biting her bottom lip, carefully choosing her words so that he would understand he was a part of this discussion – she wasn’t going to push anything he didn’t want.

“What?”

“What’s it going to be like at work?” She asked, bringing her free hand to caress his arm, sliding her hand under the sleeve of his shirt.

Sergio widened his eyes, nodding, as he thought about it.

“I hadn’t thought of that,” he mumbled and then paused. “I think… Going by what you told me, you’re the one who’d deal with any repercussion, not me. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Raquel nodded quietly.

“What do you think?” He asked, his fingers gliding up and down the small of her back.

“I would be more comfortable if we kept it private. We don’t work _together_ together, so… I think it would be the best for now. To avoid any gossip,” she shrugged.

“Okay,” he agreed.

“That’s okay with you?” She questioned, eager to make sure they were on the same page.

“Let’s see, we don’t talk at work unless we have to – but I can see you after work?”

“Yes, you can,” she affirmed with a nod.

“Can I kiss you after work?” He smirked.

Raquel laughed. “Yes, you can.”

“Can we… um…” He cleared his throat, trying to do away with his shyness. “Can we have sex after work?”

She hummed, as if she was contemplating the proposal. “Maybe even before _and_ after.”

“Really?” He asked and she nodded. “Then what else could I possibly need?”

They laughed and she lifted her body from his to cuddle closer and plant a kiss on his lips.

“It’s settled then,” she announced, resting her cheek on the hollow of his shoulder. And then, in a whisper almost inaudible, she simply added: “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think after everything these two deserve to be happy for a little while, heh?


	10. A Bailar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys!
> 
> Sorry it's taken me a while to get to this chapter. The reality is that sometimes it's really hard to write during this quarantine... So thank you for all the comments and kudos and feedbacks you leave on the story, it's so nice to have this sort of motivation during the shittiest days, ya know?
> 
> Anyways, at least I've brought you something nice: it's our last night in Coruña and Raquel is in the mood to party :)
> 
> Excited to hear (well, read) your thoughts on our favorite couple's last night in this little bubble.
> 
> Stay safe <3

_Day Two, 14:57 PM_

Sergio had no idea how he got into this situation in the first place.

One minute they were making out on the couch, seemingly lost in time and in each other. And in the next, Raquel had decided their last night together deserved a party.

Now she was tearing apart his closet looking for what she defined as “dancing appropriate” clothes.

Sergio sat on the foot of the bed watching her groan at every option she saw – and there weren’t many, since he had actually packed light for that trip.

He didn’t understand anything that was happening, but seeing Raquel pull out each of his social shirts with a frown on her face was definitely amusing.

This woman was a rollercoaster ride. And he would be lying if he said he wasn’t addicted to that feeling on the pit of his stomach that she brought him.

“Okay, it’s official, you don’t have _any_ dancing appropriate clothes,” she announced, putting two shirts in front of his chest to decide on which one she wanted him to put on.

She settled on offering him a white, long-sleeved social shirt.

“Am I supposed to put this on?” Sergio asked, trying to suppress a laughter.

“Yes, right now actually,” she replied seriously, putting the other hanger back on the closet.

“Do you want me to grab my tux too?” He joked, but she turned around with a sparkle in her eyes.

“ _Yes_ ,” she decidedly nodded, smiling. “Where is it?”

Sergio shook his head, chuckling. “Behind the bathroom door.”

“Perfect,” she skipped her way towards the bathroom, but not before glancing over her shoulder at him one last time. “Well, put it on!”

He immediately obeyed, putting on the shirt and closing the buttons carefully. By the time he finished, she had walked back into the room and was now standing in front of him wearing his tuxedo jacket with nothing underneath but her panties.

Sergio gulped, drinking in her every inch and curve, as she offered him a knowing smile.

“Um… These are your party clothes?” He mused, stroking his fingers up her naked thigh.

She laughed. “Well, I had to improvise. I’m thinking we can party like Tom Cruise in Risky Business.”

Sergio squinted his eyes at her, unsure of what she was talking about.

“The sock sliding scene?” Raquel questioned, seemingly outraged that he didn’t know it.

He simply shook his head, his lips turning into a thin line.

She sighed, throwing her arms around his neck. “I can see that I’m going to have to educate you on a lot of films.”

“Please, educate me on all you want,” Sergio muttered, bringing his own hands around her hips and pulling her onto his lap. Then, he put his lips against her ear and whispered: “ _Professora_.”

Raquel smiled, biting her bottom lip as he placed a kiss on her neck. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled back his head.

“Don’t distract me,” she said, arching her brows in defiance. “We’re dancing.”

Sergio laughed. “It was worth the shot.”

“Don’t worry, there’s plenty of time for that,” she said, getting up from his lap and pulling him by the hand. “ _After_ the party.”

“A party of two,” he mused as they wandered their way into the kitchen.

“The best kind of party,” Raquel provoked. She let go of him to glance around the room. “Where is your booze?”

He chuckled, pointing at a cabinet next to the fridge. She promptly kneeled down open it and inspect the contents, humming gladly at the diversity of bottles she found.

It was more than endearing to see her so excited about something as mundane as alcohol, it felt _good_ to know that she was letting herself be comfortable around him. The Raquel he saw in front of him now was different than the Raquel who had tried to pull the breaks on all of this earlier, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on how exactly the shift happened. How could someone change in the matter of hours?

He decided to count it as a blessing.

She finally rose from the floor, closing the cabinet door and resting a bottle of tequila and a bottle of orange liquor on the marble counter.

“These are my weapons of choice,” she announced, smirking and raising her eyebrows at him. “Do you have lemons?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he nodded, moving around the kitchen to find the fruits in a basket while she picked up a cutting board, a knife and filled a small plate with salt.

“And two glasses, please,” she further instructed when he handed her the lemons.

He placed two glasses in front of her and watched as she mixed them drinks with an outstanding speed. She trailed the rim of the glasses with a wedge of lemon and swirl it on the plate of salt.

“I used to be a bartender when I was in college,” she fully disclosed, noticing he was studying her moves quietly.

“Really?”

“I actually took two semesters off of college after my father passed – I went to Lisboa for a while and worked as a bartender and as a babysitter to this rich family to pay for the bills,” she explained, pouring the drink in each glass. “Then I traveled around Portugal and Spain with the money I saved.”

“Why Portugal?” He asked as she opened the freezer to pick up some ice cubes.

“I guess I wanted to be somewhere… away from home… but not _far_ from home,” she put three ice cubes on each drink and looked up at him. “You know?” 

He nodded quietly. “In case anything happened,” he guessed.

Raquel smiled knowingly. It felt good to be understood by someone. And Sergio had this way of understanding her even in her silences, even in the pauses and glances and feather-light touches.

She slid him one of the glasses and picked one up in her hand. “Tell me what you think.”

He took a sip of the drink as she watched eagerly and smiled after swallowing the liquid.

“I might be biased,” he said, walking around the counter to circle his free hand around her waist. “But it might be the best drink I’ve ever tasted.”

Raquel let out a loud laughter and shook her head. “Have you ever had a margarita before?”

“No, but I’m sure this is it, this is the best one,” he affirmed, his brows underscoring his seriousness even if his lips were curved up in a smile.

She took a sip of her own drink and enjoyed the gentle strokes of his hand on the small of her back.

“I have an idea,” she smirked and Sergio’s eyes widened instantly. “Let’s play truth or dare.”

Raquel saw that the exact moment the words left her lips, his façade crumbled. The cool and confident Sergio wasn’t in front of her anymore. His cheeks were auburn red, his mouth opened and closed several times and she could tell he would have adjusted his glasses if one of his hands were free.

“Oh,” she brought a hand to caress his chest. “You’ve never played truth or dare before?”

He shrugged silently, glad he didn’t have to actually voice out something so stupid. When he was a teenager – hell, even in college –, he thought all of it was, well, bullshit. The parties, the alcohol, the games, the dating.

He would see Andrés go to parties – he would even be _dragged_ to some of them before he was able to convince his brother he was much happier being at home with a good book and a cup of tea.

He had never missed any of it, but being confronted with the reality that he didn’t lead a life as normally as the people around him was always a little awkward. It made him feel like an alien.

But Raquel simply smiled and gave him a gentle peck on the lips.

“Sergio, that’s fine. It’s actually more fun when it’s just with people you trust,” she kindly offered. Then, she tilted her head, suddenly nervous. “You do trust me, right?”

“Of course,” he said so seriously his voice came out inadvertently hoarse.

“Then let’s play,” she cupped his cheek with her hand. “And you’ll never have to tell anyone you’ve never done it again.”

They laughed and Sergio nodded. He followed her into the living room and they sat on the floor, leaning their sides against the couch and facing each other.

“Okay, do you want to start?” She asked, arching her eyebrows excitedly.

His eyes grew wide at the idea. “Should I just choose one?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, truth,” he said, not even hesitating at the choice.

“Hmmm,” she bit her lower lip, thinking carefully about her question. “Have you ever had an inappropriate sex dream?”

“Jesus,” Sergio rolled his eyes, nervous. Maybe none of his choices in this game would be safe. He was playing with Raquel, after all. “Well, yes, sure. I did.”

She let her eyes grow with curiosity, taking a sip of her drink. “Please elaborate.”

“Are these the rules of the game?” Sergio squinted his eyes at her.

“These are the rules of _my_ game,” she proclaimed, raising her glass victoriously.

He took a deep breath, taking a large gulp of his drink before being able to look her in the eye again. “Okay. I’ve never told _anyone_ this before.”

“Your secret is safe with me,” she sworn, raising a hand in solemnity.

“Andrés and I had a tutor when we were 17. She was in her thirties, had studied in Sorbonne and we had private lessons with her two days a week,” he explained in a prelude, taking another large sip of his margarita before continuing. "One day she wore a… _very_ tight pencil skirt.”

“Oh my God,” Raquel laughed, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.

“I could barely look her in the eye for the rest of the year,” he couldn’t even bring himself to drag his eyes up from the floor right now.

“Sergio…” She began, stretching her arm to tug at the collar of his shirt. 

“No, that’s it,” he glanced up at her sternly. “Your turn.”

She adored how embarrassed he got by all of this stuff, even if he didn’t know how cute it was when he did so.

“Okay, truth,” she said.

Sergio pondered for a moment, before frowning. “Wait – so does it have to be a, um, sexual question?”

“Well, no, not necessarily,” Raquel explained. “But it often is,” she raised her eyebrows suggestively. “You can ask me anything. It’s okay.”

“Um… I don’t know. Have you…” He looked around, trying to think of something that wasn’t _inadequate_ but that also wasn’t necessarily tame. An idea finally surged and he looked up at her with a shy expression. “Have you ever kissed a woman?”

“Good question,” she raised her glass in an imaginary toast and drank a small sip from her drink. “Yes. Once, when I was in college.”

Sergio continued looking at her, waiting for her to fill in the blanks, but she had already turned her attention back to the rim of her glass.

“That’s all I’m going to get?” He asked. “I told you one of my most embarrassing memories.”

Raquel smiled. “Fine. Her name was Alicia, we were classmates and we got really drunk at a party and started making out. I’m not gonna lie, she was a good kisser, but I guess I’m just a boring, straight woman.”

She loved the bewildered look he had on his face. He was completely entranced and also totally embarrassed.

“You’re very far from boring,” he offered, gazing at her with affection.

“That’s what you think,” she replied, trying to wave off the compliment. “Your turn, come on.”

“Truth,” he responded and Raquel scoffed. “What?”

“You’re gonna have to pick dare sometime. You can’t just rig the game,” she shrugged.

“How could I be rigging the game? I’m making a very conscious choice.”

“The rules say you can’t choose neither truth or dare three times in a row so your next turn is automatically a dare.”

“Oh, so there’s guidebook now?” He raised his eyebrows at her and she laughed.

“Shut up, I’m asking the question! Let me think,” she bit her bottom lip, her fingernails tapping against her glass. “Okay. How old were you when you lost your virginity?”

Sergio sighed. “Really?” 

“You were the one who picked truth,” she lifted her shoulders with a teasing smirk.

“Fine. I was 19,” he said, noticing from her expression that she was urging him to continue. “I was in college and Andrés managed to drag me to a party because it was his birthday. He got me drunk and set me up with one of his colleagues.”

For some reason, thinking about Sergio with someone else urged an unsettling feeling at the bottom of her stomach, but Raquel bottled it away and looked at him curiously.

“Do you remember how it was?” She asked.

“Awkward,” he answered and they both laughed. “I didn’t really know… quite what to do. But… she was very _vocal_ about what she wanted.”

Noticing by the way he was frowning that Sergio had gotten in his own head, Raquel tried to soothe his worries.

“Well, I can guarantee that you know quite what to do in bed nowadays,” she offered with a smirk.

He glanced at her, his eyes suddenly sharp focused. “It’s different with you."

Raquel gulped at the intensity of his gaze and the hoarseness of his voice. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure I can explain it,” he chuckled nervously, scratching his chin through his beard. “But with you I just… I’m present. Like, fully present. I’m not in my head, I’m not overthinking, I’m…”

He trailed off, unable to find the word he was looking for.

Fortunately Raquel seemed to have found it for him: “Feeling?”

He held her gaze in his, nodding. “Yeah.”

“You’re the first man I’ve had sex with since my divorce that I actually felt a connection with,” Raquel disclosed after a moment of silence. “I’d often be with other guys and mentally check out, you know? I’d be thinking – oh, I’m running out of cereal,” she laughed, then glanced up at him with her bottom lip in between her teeth. “Not with you, though. I feel very… conscious. Of everything.”

Sergio smiled, torn between holding her gaze and nervously staring at the wooden floor.

“Okay. Dare me,” she demanded in an attempt to disperse his awkwardness.

“Oh. I have to think.”

“Be creative,” she winked. 

Sergio was certain she was thinking of something else, but he had a far better idea in mind – and this time she wouldn’t be able to refuse it. “Okay. I dare you to sing something to me.”

Raquel gasped, shaking her head and clicking her tongue. “Fine. Let me think of something.”

She put down her drink and struggled to think of a song until she remembered one that her mother used to love. She started moving her head to the rhythm of the song, her eyes closed, until she found the strength to sing out loud.

" _Tonto el que no entienda, cuenta una leyenda que una hembra gitana conjuró a la luna hasta el amanecer,_ ” she started singing. “ _Llorando pedía al llegar el día desposar un calé. Tendrás a tu hombre piel morena, desde el cielo habló la luna llena. Pero a cambio quiero el hijo primero que le engendres a él._ ” 

Sergio looked at her in awe. He thought back to the first time she saw her in person, walking across the company’s hallway, all serious and focused. And here she was in front of him, still focused, but much less serious, undressed in more ways than he could count. He had always known she was special but this moment? This moment would forever be ingrained in his memory.

“ _Y las noches que haya luna llena, será porque el niño esté de buenas? Y si el niño llora, menguará la luna para hacerle una cuna. Y si el niño llora, menguará la luna para hacerle una cuna…_ ”

She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds after she had finished, breathing in and out. When she finally opened her eyes again, his eyes were fixated on her like a pair of shining stars.

He slightly shook his head, amazed by what he had just witnessed. “You’re magnificent.”

“Stop,” she rolled her eyes, shaking her own head in return.

“I’m being honest,” he assured her, but she was far too embarrassed to even accept his compliment.

Instead, she picked up her glass and took another sip of her drink. Then, she looked up at him as an idea struck her. 

“But it’s not time for the truth, it’s time for your dare,” she said, rising up to her feet. “And I dare you… to get up and dance with me.”

Sergio chuckled. “That’s your dare?”

“Yes,” she nodded, stretching out one arm for him to hold her hand.

“Fine,” he agreed, taking her hand and getting up from the floor.

He gave her his phone so she could put on some music and she put on what she hailed a “classic” from her rock and roll phase, the first one she learned to play in her guitar – “Gypsy”, by Fleetwood Mac. They downed the rest of their drinks and she slowly let herself get lost in the song.

Watching her sing and dance so close to him, so carefree and happy, it was all much more intoxicating than the alcohol, but he couldn’t deny both were having a heavy effect on his organism. He started moving slowly with his feet, but before he could even think about it, she grabbed his hands and pulled him towards her, using him to twirl and move to the rhythm of the song.

_Goodness strikes_

_Maybe once, maybe twice_

_And it all comes down to you_

Despite all of his worries about dancing, Sergio had to admit that it was actually _fun_. And getting to do this with her, and only her, seeing her twirl around laughing and leaning against him not to fall whenever she landed wrong on her feet – he really didn’t know happiness before knowing her.

They must have spent at least three hours in between making new drinks and dancing around the living room. They were so drunk Sergio didn’t even think before moving his arms and feet around to accompany the music. Raquel had found her way to dancing on top of the couch and she was in the middle of belting out the lyrics to _Barracuda_ when the power went out.

“Awww,” she whimpered as the darkness engulfed them. Sergio chuckled, not willing to admit it to her but also slightly disappointed that their dance party had come to an abrupt end.

She was still breathing erratically on top of the couch when he approached her, circling his arms on her waist. She smiled down at him, bringing one hand to caress his hair. Then, in one sudden movement, she jumped on him, throwing her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

He almost lost his balance, but was able to save them both from the fall by leaning forward, making both of them splash on the couch, drunkenly laughing a the mishap. The laughter slowly died down when they noticed how close they were and how his body felt on top of her.

He leaned in to kiss her and she parted her lips instantly, pulling him further against her. It didn’t take long for the kiss to escalate, both of them desperately shedding the few items of clothing that separated their skin. He went down on her first and then fucked her fast and hard. When they finished, he carried her to the bedroom and threw her on the bed, where they remained entertained for hours on end, kissing, touching, fucking like it was their last night on Earth.

Hours later, when they were both exhausted, they laid in bed, Sergio’s arm under Raquel’s neck, his fingers locked with hers as they stared at the ceiling, still panting from the last round.

“I’m really glad your first sex partner was so vocal about her preferences,” Raquel teased, turning her head to glance at him. “You’ve learned thoroughly.”

Sergio laughed. “Well, she didn’t teach me _everything_ I know.”

“Really? Then who taught you? Andrés?” She joked. 

“Oh, God, no,” he winced. “That’s a conversation I never want to have with my brother. No, I… I read a lot of books.”

“You’re telling me you got all of that from text books?”

“Well, no. But I did learn from books that the key in any sexual relationship – besides consent, of course – is to pay close attention to every reaction your partner makes,” he explained.

Raquel turned on her side to look at him curiously. “What reactions exactly?”

“Um, each person has their own reactions–”

“I know,” she interrupted, a smile dangling on her lips. “But you’ve learned my reactions? What are _my_ tells?” 

Sergio’s cheeks instantly blushed and she laughed, cupping his face and bringing him to look at her.

“Sergio, you don’t have to be embarrassed,” she said, caressing his cheek and sliding her hand down to his chest. “But I am curious. Tell me.”

“It’s– It’s mostly small reactions like… biting your lip or… when your breathing becomes a tinge more shallow or when you’re arching your back,” he shrugged. “You dig your fingernails on my back when you want it harder and faster.”

Raquel’s eyebrows arched in surprise and a realization downed upon her that must’ve changed her entire expression because not a second after it she heard him say her name.

“Raquel?” He asked, unsure if he had said something to unsettle her. She glanced at him, letting her expression soften again.

“I was just thinking that… I don’t think anyone has ever paid that close attention to me before,” she explained.

“Sorry, it’s weird, right?” He sighed, turning his gaze to the ceiling.

“No, no, no,” she denied, rolling herself on top of him to make him look at her. When he did, he saw her smiling. “It’s not weird. I like it.”

She kissed him, hoping to settle the matter once and for all, and then found a spot on his chest to lay down her head, caressing his arm as he stroke his fingers up and down her back.

They kept talking in low voices, sharing small facts about each other, until she let out a yawn and he caressed the top of her head, hoping to lull her to sleep.

When she fell into slumber, he put a strand of hair behind her ear, fighting back his sleep for as long as he could.

In a slur, he confessed the reason to no one but himself: “I don’t want this to end.” 


	11. Navidad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on the last chapter! I'm going to post this and then go back to answer all of you but to everyone who is here reading this and to everyone who comments on fics (any fics, not just mine!), know this: you are awesome. You are the reason we keep writing, even through the tough days ❤️
> 
> ALSO, I kind of joined Twitter? I'm feeling lonely in this lockdown so if you want to follow me there, I'm @felinandcooks! Excited to be able to talk to you more than through this AO3 comments. I feel like I'm already friends with so many of you lolol 🤣
> 
> Anyways, onto the chapter!!!

_Day Three, 9:28 AM_

Raquel struggled to open her eyes. Maybe it was the amount of alcohol involved, or the fact they had stayed up until late hours, but she had slept through the night like a log. Coming to her senses that morning, she could feel Sergio’s body curled up against her back, spooning her, his arm around her waist pulling her towards him, his lips and nose buried in her neck.

And for the first time in a long while, she felt peaceful. She felt safe. She felt like she could get used to waking up like this everyday for the rest of her life. The realization made her eyes widen. Yup, now she was wide awake. She unconsciously shook her head as if the movement would disperse her thoughts, but it ended up having the contrary effect, because it woke up Sergio and after a quick inhale, he pressed his lips against the exposed skin of her neck and shoulder.

Yes, she could definitely get used to _this_.

“Good morning,” he muttered as he nibbled her earlobe.

She smiled and rolled up her shoulder, feeling ticklish from the way his beard grazed her skin. She turned around, bringing a hand to the back of his head, playing with his hair as she looked into his sleepy eyes.

“Morning,” she replied, gently pressing her lips against his, feeling the warmth of his fingertips stroking her back.

She studied his face calmly – his expression lines, the exact height of his cheek where his beard stopped, the curve of his nose, the small signs around his eyes, the shape of his lips’ cupid’s bow. Then she let her eyes stare back into his, drinking him in, allowing him to shower her with the affection that was brimming in his gaze. She smiled to herself, realizing that she would drown in it if she could.

But her smile grew sad and she pursed her lips, a question forming in her own eyes. “Do you think the storm has passed?”

He mirrored her sad smile and blinked a couple of times before being able to part his lips. “I’m not in a rush to find out.”

She felt the corners of her lips curve up as he leaned in, slowly closing the distance between them. They kissed calmly and tenderly, as if any rushed movement would drag them out of this bed, of this apartment, of this warm bubble they had cocooned into. And when she undulated her body against his, it wasn’t urgent, it was slow and intense like their lips felt on one another.

He laid her with her back on the mattress, one hand firmly holding her neck while the other stroke her body. He touched her with the ease and conviction of someone who knew exactly where he wanted to be – right here, right now, with her. She spread her legs open and he tended to her center as if he was playing the chords of a memorized melody. And when he entered her, they had pulled away their kiss only to gaze at each other in silence, cherishing the moment for what it was – a dream, a blessing, heaven on Earth.

He thrusted inside of her slow and deep and this time she didn’t feel the need for him to go hard to get where she wanted. He amped up the speed, not once tearing away from her gaze, and they climaxed together, moaning in unison as if they had been doing this for their entire lives.

When they finally regained their breaths, he was still on top of her. She caressed his face lovingly and he turned his head to plant a kiss on the palm of her hand. She smiled at the intimacy of the moment, allowing herself to feel everything she never thought she would get to feel again. Carefree, loving happiness, in all the tangled feelings it came with, with all the fear, with all the confusion, in all its mess and chaos and glory. She opened up her heart and let it all rush in.

Almost as if he had read her mind, he leaned in and kissed her before pulling out from her and throwing himself back on the bed with his back on the mattress.

“Do you think the power came back?” She pondered.

“It did, you didn’t hear it?” He asked, but Raquel shook her head and he laughed. “About 5 AM the stereo turned itself back on and I woke up with someone yelling _Barracuda._ It took me a second to understand what was happening. You really didn’t hear it?”

She laughed. “I guess someone must have really tired me out last night.”

“Are you hungry?” Sergio asked, but Raquel stretched herself to pull the covers back up on them and cuddled against him, circling an arm around his waist and draping a leg over his as he pulled her tiny body further into him.

“A little, but I’m not in a rush either,” she said, kissing his cheek.

“Okay,” he smiled, leaning onto her lips and closing his eyes at the feeling of having her so close.

They stayed like that for another half an hour, until Raquel’s stomach pleaded for some food, and they went to the kitchen to cook breakfast together, taking twice as long as they would have simply because they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. 

Finally, after enjoying their _tostadas con tomates_ and coffee, they turned on the television to check the news. As predicted, the storm had stopped and the streets had seen a first round of plowing earlier that morning. The news hit them with a tinge of sadness and they sat quietly on the couch for a moment, realizing that they were no longer bound to the perimeters of that apartment.

Raquel hopped in the bathroom for a quick shower and waltzed back into the bedroom with only a towel draped around her body. She found him sitting on the bed with his book again, but he had already put it aside the moment she walked out of the bathroom. She approached him, cupping his face with her hands and placing a wet kiss on his lips.

“Can I borrow a shirt and one of those linen pants? I don’t want to put that party dress,” she asked, her tone sweet and inviting.

“So now you like my linen pants?” Sergio arched his eyebrows teasingly.

“I never said I didn’t like them,” she laughed and he joined her with a chuckle. “I just wildly prefer you without them,” she teased back, biting her lower lip seductively.

He breathed in her scent for a moment, wistfully confessing the thought that had ingrained his mind, “I wish you didn’t have to go.”

She smiled, her thumbs caressing his cheek as she pressed her lips on his forehead. She pulled away, brushing her nose against the top of his head, softly muttering back, “I know…”

He sighed. “You can wear anything you want.”

She unwillingly pulled away from him, grabbing a pair of linen pants and a white shirt. As she put them on, she looked at him curiously. “When are you heading back?”

“A little later today,” he said, unable to take his eyes off her.

“What are you going to do for Christmas?”

“Otávio normally invites the family for this fancy dinner on the 24th. Everyone gets drunk and it always ends in a fight,” he let out a chuckle, attempting to hide the harsh reality. “And on Christmas Day, Andrés and I have a little tradition.”

Raquel squinted her eyes in his direction, putting on his pants. “Do I want to know _what_?”

“It’s silly, actually,” he shrugged. “We spend the day playing videogame and getting drunk together.”

“That’s… almost endearing,” she replied, laughing, and he couldn’t help but join her.

“What about you?” He asked.

“Well, since my sister has moved away with my ex-husband… It’s just me, Paula and my mother. We make some food, some sangria and watch Christmas themed movies,” she explained as a smile graced her face at the thought of being with her daughter again.

He offered a half smile – happy for her, sad for him. “Are you traveling back on your own?”

“I’m going to meet Ágata at the airport,” she approached the bed again and sat on his lap, circling her arms around his neck. “I still haven’t packed my bags. My Airbnb is a mess.”

He wanted to offer to come, to help her, to linger in her presence for just a little bit longer. But he knew, no matter how good it was, it would have to end at some point. They would have to part ways and he would still have to come back to an empty apartment. If not this one, the one waiting for him in Madrid. So he said nothing, preferring to brush his fingers over her thighs as she looked down at him, her hands caressing his silky dark hair.

She closed the distance between them in a kiss. When they parted, she let her forehead rest against his.

“I really gotta go now,” she whispered.

He calmly nodded, “I know…”

“Walk me to the door?” She asked, wistfully getting up from his lap.

“Of course.”

They made their way to the living room in silence. She requested an Uber and waited for a driver to accept the ride as she put on her shoes and coat.

He stood next to her, his expression saddened by her departure, hands in the pockets of his pants as she got up from the floor.

“Let me know how things go?” Sergio asked apprehensively.

“I will,” She nodded, throwing her purse’s strap over her shoulder and holding onto her folded dress. She approached him, cupping his face between her hands and kissing him tenderly again. “I’ll see you soon.”

“I can’t wait,” he muttered absentmindedly. Thankfully, she found it endearing and smiled, pressing her lips quickly against his once again.

“Bye,” she said, pulling away from him as fast as she could, otherwise she knew she would have been persuaded to stay for a little longer.

She closed the door behind her and made her way to the front door. She hesitated upon facing the exit, a sour sense of deja vu running through her mind, but with a push she was able to slide a few centimeters of snow aside and open the door.

Raquel looked around the street, still covered in all that white snow, and watched from a distance as a giant snow plow cleared a street not far from where she was. She looked down to her phone and noticed her driver was only one minute away.

And as she waited for the driver to turn around the corner, she closed her eyes and took in the cold, breezy air into her lungs. She tried to fill them up with a profound inhale, watching as the air she exhaled through her mouth turned into smoke in front of her.

She was about to head home, she was about to see her daughter, she was about to crawl into the couch in between her mother and daughter and drink hot chocolate until they were nauseated. She was happy. But deep in her heart, something changed. It already felt like there was something missing.

* * *

_Christmas Eve, 8:47 PM_

It had been a little over 24 hours days since Raquel had gotten home. She and Ágata managed to leave soon after arriving at the airport and landed in Madrid at around 15:30 PM on the 23rd. They had enough time in the check in and during the flight for Raquel to answer to all of her friend’s detailed questions about the last two days she had spent in the lockdown with Sergio Marquina.

It was kind of thrilling recounting to Ágata all that they went through in those two days, but more thrilling than that was arriving home and seeing Paula’s wide grin at her arrival. Raquel picked up her daughter in ecstasy, probably hugging her tighter than she should have, but the girl didn’t seem to complain. In fact, she hurried her mother inside so they could finish decorating the Christmas tree – she had forbidden Mariví to finish decorating it because she wanted to do so with her mother, a small fact that almost brought tears to Raquel’s eyes – and they spent the last day in between movies and Christmas themed activities.

After having dinner, Raquel, Mariví and Paula cuddled under the covers on the sofa, Mariví and Paula with a cup of ice cream and Raquel with a glass of sangria, while they watched _Los Reyes Magos_. The corner of her lips curved up when, upon finishing her ice cream and putting away her cup, Paula laid her head on Raquel’s lap, eyes focused on the animated film on the silver screen. Raquel caressed her daughter’s hair, letting out a content sigh, but a small part of her wondered where he was, what he was doing, if he was wearing a tuxedo, if he was wearing that woody, breezy perfume that she had come to know and, more importantly, if he was thinking about her as she was thinking about him.

What Raquel didn’t know was that in the other side of Madrid, there wasn’t a minute that went by that Sergio didn’t think of her. Sure, they had been texting ever since she left his apartment, but since yesterday the messages had been scarce and although he was sure she wasn’t doing it on purpose, that she was just dedicating her time to her daughter and mother, after being in her presence all day for two days straight, not having her by his side was, as dramatic as it sounded, like he was missing an integral part of him.

He wasn’t exactly sure how Raquel Murillo had managed to get under his skin so quickly and so intensely, but she had done so without a shadow of a doubt. And although she had seemed dedicated to seeing through whatever they both had initiated during the lockdown, a small part of Sergio was worried that she would soon realize that she could have any man she wanted and kick him to the curb where he belonged.

He was sitting on a chair by the window for the past twenty minutes, debating wether or not he should send her a Christmas message when a small cup of Port wine materialized in front of him. He looked up at the owner of the familiar hand holding up the glass and let out a sigh.

“You looked like you needed it,” Andrés smirked.

Sergio took the glass from his hand as Andrés sat on the chair in front of him with his own drink. They looked around the living room in silence for a moment, observing the pompous display of money that Otávio employed on the occasion. The fancy decor, a dozen staff members, a giant table full of more foods than they would be able to eat – especially since most of their family would just lounge around the room with drinks for the entire night. Andrés had to suppress an eyeroll before turning his attention back to Sergio.

“What’s wrong? Yesterday you couldn’t stop grinning at your two-day bedroom funk and now you look like a lost stray,” Andrés wondered as Sergio looked up at him and shrugged.

“Nothing’s wrong,” he calmly replied, taking a sip of the dense, sweet Port wine his brother had served him.

“Sergio, don’t play dumb, it’s beneath us both.”

He stared at his older brother and shook his head slightly. Then, he sat closer to the edge of the chair, leaning forward as if he was going to let him in on a secret. “Can I ask you something?”

Andrés smiled. “That’s literally what I’m begging you to do.”

Sergio bit his bottom lip, pensive, looking up at his brother through the lenses of his glasses. “Is it possible to fall in love with someone in two days?”

His brother grinned, studying him intensively. “Hermanito… You could fall in love with someone in less than a minute. Let alone cooped up in an apartment for two days straight.”

Sergio looked down at his shining leather shoes and sighed.

“That’s not what’s bothering you,” Andrés proclaimed and Sergio quietly cursed his brother for knowing him so well. “What is it?”

“I don’t know if she feels the same way,” he confessed, unable to stare his brother in the eyes as he admitted the truth.

Andrés paused for a moment, contemplating the expression on his brother’s face, before offering him a shrug. “Maybe she doesn’t. Does it change how you feel about her?”

Sergio looked up at him like he was crazy. “No.”

“Did she say anything about not seeing you again?”

“No…”

“Then stop worrying about the things you can’t control and learn to live in the moment,” Andrés declared. “You’re in love, enjoy it!”

His brother grinned while Sergio looked at him nervously. He knew he was right. There wasn’t anything left to do. He barely noticed when Silene approached them and sat on the arm of Andrés’ chair.

“What are my favorite cousins whispering about?” She raised her eyebrows curiously.

“Nothi–” Sergio tried to mutter, before being interrupted by Andrés.

“Our little Sergio here is in love for the first time,” he said and Silene looked at him with a delighted expression.

“That is _so cute_!” Silene leaned forward, playfully slapping Sergio on the shoulder. “Who is she? When do we get to meet her?”

He sunk down in his chair again and looked out the window. Silene looked down at Andrés, who gesticulated something to her before pointing towards the kitchen. “How about we make some drinks, huh? Let’s leave the poor bastard to mourn his sanity by himself.” 

Sergio thanked Andrés for at least having the courtesy of leaving him alone.

Hesitantly, he picked up his phone and opened the text conversation with her. He slid his fingers across the screen, typing a message.

<<Feliz Navidad, Raquel.  
I hope you’re enjoying the  
holiday with your family.>>

He reread the message a thousand times until he hit send. And when he finally did, he winced. He quickly found three thousand errors in that one small message. That was too cold. Too distant. Too formal? Why did he text her like he was replying to an email?

He was on the verge of getting up for a drink refill when his phone vibrated in his hand. It was _her_.

<<Feliz Navidad, Sergio!  
Paula loved the fake snow.  
She said she wants to make it  
in all the colors in the world.  
You might have created a  
monster…>>

He smiled. She remembered it – and, more importantly, Paula liked it. He imagined the two of them sitting on the floor together, playing with the fake snow, and he felt a tinge of sadness for not being able to witness it. Before he could even think of texting her back, another message from her came through.

<<How are things  
at the mansion?>>

<<Surprisingly quiet for the  
amount of alcohol ingested.  
Although Andrés and our cousin  
Silene are in the kitchen making  
a new batch of drinks, so…>>

<<This is probably the calm  
before the storm.>>

<<Well, I’m here if you need  
someone to talk about it.>>

<<I’m also really curious as to  
what trouble could ensue…>>

<<I will give you first hand news.>>

He kept staring at his screen and noticed the three little dots that signaled Raquel was typing were blinking. He anticipated her text, but from the looks of it she was writing a dissertation. She spent about a minute typing until a message – well, a block filled with various emojis, really – appeared on the screen.

<<😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺😺  
🎄🎄🎄🎉😇❤️🌚🌝🎁🛍️  
☃️☃️☃️❄️❄️❄️❄️✨✨✨  
🐶🐹🐰🐨🙉🐥🦉🐞🦄>>

<<Sorry, these are from Paula.  
She wanted to thank you for  
the fake snow tutorial.>>

Sergio let out a laughter, only to suppress it when he realized the rest of his family could hear him. Then, after only a moment, he got another text.

<<I miss you.>>

He nearly dropped his phone on the floor but picked it up midair and studied the screen intently, reading and rereading those three small words to make sure he had read them right. It felt like a weight had been relieved of his chest. _She_ missed _him_. She _missed_ him.

He typed back, his heart pounding like a hammer in his chest, and didn’t think twice before sending it.

<<I miss you too.>>


	12. Noche Vieja

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, lovelies!
> 
> For all of you waiting for this chapter: HERE IT IS!! Sorry for taking so long, A LOT happens on this chapter and the last few weeks have been kind of up and down in terms of inspiration.
> 
> There may be some errors because I kind of edited it in a rush, but I decided to just post it already and correct whatever mistake I find on the way while y'all read it lmao
> 
> With no further delay, here ya go:

_ Christmas Day, 9:12 AM _

<<And then, I kid you not,

Silene grabbed a steak knife…>>

  
<<Jesus fucking Christ, Sergio!>>  
  


<<Nothing happened though!

Marseille rendered her and Andrés

managed to get Martín away from her.>>

  
<<I am genuinely concerned

about your family’s tendencies

towards psychopathy.>>

  
<<Oh, so this is NOT normal family

behavior? I should let them know…>>  
  


<<Speaking of normal 

family behavior…>>

  
<<Weren’t you supposed to be

playing video games and 

getting drunk?>>

  
<<Yeah, but my dear brother is

still peacefully asleep and quite

possibly – but not as peacefully – 

hungover.>>

  
<<What about you? I thought you’d

be in your movie marathon with

Paula by now.>>

<<My companion is also sleeping...>>

  
<<Good thing I have you to talk to.>>

  
<<Ditto.>>

  
<<Although I wish I could hear your voice.>>

Sergio waited for her to reply for what felt like an eternity. How exactly had it come down to this? How was he, a 41 year old man, behaving like a teenager waiting for their school crush to notice them? He hadn’t even left the bed of his childhood room in Otávio’s house because he had woken up to a text from her and he hadn’t been able to unglue himself from the phone since.

When his phone started ringing in his hand, her name blinking in the caller ID, he had to take a deep breath before answering. He slid his thumb across the screen and immediately pressed the phone against his ear.

“Better?” Her voice inundated his ears and he smiled.

“Much better,” he admitted, adjusting himself on the bed.

“It’s good to hear your voice too,” she said and he could hear her utter those words through a smile. He felt a warmth surge through his chest, making his heart palpitate.

Then, insecurity threatened to overwhelm him and he started to ramble. “I… I hope I didn’t scare you with my family’s stories–”

“Sergio…” She muttered on the other side, but he continued nevertheless.

“–I know they seem crazy,” Sergio disclosed, perfectly and acutely aware of all of his family’s flaws. “But most of them have their heart in the right place. It’s just their heads that’s…”

He paused for a moment, searching for the right words to fill in the blanks.

It was Raquel who completed his sentence, with a snicker. “Up their asses?”

He chortled, relieved that she was taking all of this easily. “That’s actually an apt way to put it.”

“Well, who am I judge?” Raquel said, getting up from her own couch and waltzing around the living room with the phone pressed against her ear. “My family’s story could easily be in a plot in a telenovela.”

“To each their own, I guess…” Sergio sighed.

“Are you agreeing that my family belongs in a telenovela? Or that you are as psychotic as your family?” She asked, feigning complaint in her tone. “Because I honestly don’t know what’s worse.”

There was a pause on his end of the line and Raquel pursed her lips into a thin line, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

And, right on cue, he began stammering. “N-no– I-I– What I meant was–”

She let out the laughter she was holding, interrupting him instantly. “Sergio, I’m joking.”

He scoffed, letting out a nervous chuckle. “Right.”

Raquel heard the sound of footsteps approaching behind her and turned around to find Paula and Mariví entering the living room.

“Mamá!” Paula exclaimed, running towards her mother and hugging her by the waist.

“Oh, good morning, cariño!” She caressed Paula’s hair. “I’ll be right with you, okay?”

Mariví stretched her hand out to Paula, who took her grandmother’s hand, but Mariví didn’t waste the opportunity to send Raquel a curious glance. 

“Sorry, Sergio, Paula just woke up. Can we talk later?” Raquel asked, unable to restrain from a frown when her mother mouthed for her to ‘ask him over’. She shook her head vehemently and Mariví simply shrugged in response.

“That’s fine, please, enjoy your time with her,” he said.

“I will,” she smiled, turning around to avoid the various expressions her mother kept making in her direction. “Enjoy your time with your brother too.”

“Thanks,” Sergio replied and, before he could stop it, found himself calling out her name. “Raquel?”

“Yeah?”

“It was good to hear your voice,” he murmured as if he was sharing an intimate secret.

Raquel smiled, biting her lower lip. “Yours too.”

“Bye.”

“Bye,” she said, ending the call and putting her phone in the pocket of her sweatpants. She approached her daughter and mother who were both laughing over something near the island that separated their small kitchen from the living room.

Raquel circled her arms around Paula and spread several kisses on the girl’s cheek, who only giggled in response.

“Mamá, can we have pancakes for breakfast?” She asked, turning around to face Raquel with a pair of shining brown eyes.

“Cariño, I think it’s the perfect day for pancakes,” Raquel resolved, smirking.

“Can we make them chocolate chip pancakes then?”

“Yes! Today is our cheat day,” she ran her hand through her daughter’s hair and smiled when the little girl clapped her hands in excitement.

An idea sprung in her little head soon after, because she looked up at her mother with a smile. “And can my stuffed animals watch our film marathon too?”

Raquel chuckled. “Of course!”

“I’ll go grab them then, you can go ahead and make the pancakes,” the little one decided, skipping off in the direction of her bedroom.

“Yes, chief,” Raquel replied, unable to wipe off the smile on her face. She turned around to find her mother watching her with falcon eyes and a knowing smirk across her lips. “You want some pancakes too, mamá?”

“I’ll have a small one, hija,” Mariví responded, sitting down on a kitchen stool and watching as her youngest daughter moved around, grabbing all the ingredients for the pancakes and adding all of them in a large bowl. “So… Who was that you were talking to on the phone?”

Raquel lifted her eyes to look at her sideways. “No one. Just a coworker.”

“Sergio, is it?” Her mother continued, raising her eyebrows.

She gasped. “Mamá, were you  _ eavesdropping _ ?”

“You should be glad my ears are working just fine!” Mariví joked, turning her palms up with an amused smile. “Tell me. Is he the man from Coruña?”

Raquel sighed, fully aware that her mother would not let the subject go as long as she kept dodging the questions. “Yes.”

“And you like him,” Mariví affirmed, rather than questioned. She had always been good at reading her daughter.

“I do,” she admitted in a small voice.

Her mother smiled, seemingly pleased. “I won’t even ask if he likes you because he would be stupid not to,” she tilted her head and Raquel let out a chuckle. “Is he a good man?”

She paused, resting the wooden spoon on the bowl and looking up at her mother with her expression softened. 

“He is,” she affirmed, trusting every part that Sergio had bared in front of her during their lockdown. Allowing herself to trust the feeling in her guts for once.

Her mother smiled mischievously. “Then I think you should invite him over for our New Years!”

“ _ No _ ,” Raquel scoffed, rolling her eyes and turning her attention back to the pancake batter. 

“Why not?”

“Because I’m sure he has better things to do than spend New Years with the three of us in this tiny apartment,” she answered, but for the fraction of a second, she imagined what it would be like if he actually could be there. She imagined his hands on her waist, him leaning in for a midnight kiss… 

She shook her head quietly as if the movement would stir away the images in her head as well. But Raquel inherited her stubbornness from someone and Mariví was relentless.

“If he had the same silly smile you had on your face just a few minutes ago, I doubt he wouldn’t say yes in a heartbeat,” she conceded.

“No, mamá,” Raquel repeated. “We’re not dating. We’re just… starting this.”

She stopped mixing the batter and leaned against the counter with both hands as if she needed something to keep her balanced.

“I don’t want to keep making the same mistakes,” she quietly added.

Mariví’s eyes widened at that. “What mistakes would that be?”

Raquel shrugged. “Being too fast. Too intense,” she took a deep breath, avoiding looking up at her own mother. “Too much.”

“Hija…” Her mother’s voice was so gentle she couldn’t help but look up at her. “The problem with Alberto wasn’t any of those things. You know that.” 

She gulped, attempting to take her mother’s words to heart.

“You should give this man a chance,” Mariví continued, her voice at once firm and delicate, as if she were coaxing her daughter towards a dream, or towards the reality she hoped she could have. “We have so little time in this life…”

Raquel inhaled deeply and swayed her head, letting out a soft snicker. “Where is this coming from? You haven’t even met him, why are you insisting on this?"

“Because he makes you smile,” her mother replied. Simple as that. And, after a beat, she couldn’t help but sneer with a glint of playfulness. “And because I am very curious to meet him. Is he handsome?”

“Díos, mamá!” Raquel laughed, cleaning a single tear that escaped from her eyes.

Right on cue, Paula ran into the living room with dozens of stuffed animals crushed under her small arms.

“Mamá, look at all the animals I got!” She called out, excited.

“Ay, cariño, that’s almost all of them! Are you sure we’re gonna fit on the couch too?” Raquel teased.

“I think so…” She paused for a moment, contemplating her mother’s commentary as a possible problem they would have to face and Raquel had to purse her lips not to laugh. “Abuela, can you help me put them on the couch?”

“Of course, mi amor,” Mariví said, getting up from the stool, but before joining Paula, she leaned in over the counter and called out her daughter. “Hija? I don’t want to pressure you. I just want you to be happy. Sigue a tu corazón. Sí?”

Raquel nodded quietly, pondering her mother’s words. The truth was she was full of doubts, of what ifs, of insecurities. However, if she looked into her heart, as her mother had suggested, there was not one question. There was only certainty.

She hesitantly pulled out her phone and unlocked the screen. The conversation with him was still open and her eyes traveled quickly to his profile picture on the messaging app. She licked her lips, letting out a loud exhale and pressing the option call him before she changed her mind.

“Raquel?” His voice answered on the other line and, for a while, she forgot everything she was about to say. Upon not hearing a single word from her, he was worried. “Is everything okay?”

“Sergio,” she merely called out. 

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering…” She paused, unsure of how to even do this in the first place. He must be thinking she was crazy. Finally, she resolved on asking him, “What are your plans for New Year’s Eve?”

“Um,” he hummed on the other side, clearly confused that she had called simply to ask him that. “Silene is throwing a party…”

“Oh,” Raquel sighed, wincing at her own stupidity. Of course he would already have plans.

Before she could steer away from the conversation, he continued. “…But I’m trying to get out of it. You know how I feel about parties,” he chuckled. 

She didn’t reply and Sergio felt his shoulders tense with anticipation. 

“What are your plans?” He asked, trying to sound cooler than he actually was.

“Um, we’re just having dinner at home. But, uh, if you’re not doing anything… Would you like to spend it with us?” She nervously asked, probably speaking faster than usual. “It probably won’t be as exciting as Silene’s party but… I’d be happy to have you here.”

She was met with silence on the other hand and wanted to dig a hole on the ground to bury herself in it.

“With you… and your family?” Sergio asked. He wanted to make sure he was understanding this correctly – that she was inviting him to spend the New Year with  _ her _ , her daughter and her mother.

Raquel felt her face burn red with embarrassment. “Um, you know what? Never mind, I–”

“No, no, no,” he interrupted her quickly. “I would  _ love _ to.”

She paused, wondering if she had heard him right. “You would?”

Mariví looked up at her from the living room and smiled knowingly.

“Yeah,” he chuckled and the sound of his laughter was enough to soothe her heart that he did mean it.

“Okay,” she grinned, shaking her head in awe of her own nervousness. She didn’t think she would feel like this again after graduating high school and here she was, nervous and silly like her own teenage self. “Okay, I’ll text you later to talk about it.”

“No,” he firmly replied.

“No?” She echoed, confused.

“Call me.”

“Okay,” Raquel smiled, biting her bottom lip. “It’s settled then.”

“Talk to you soon.”

“Bye."

“Bye,” she muttered, ending the call and looking around the kitchen as she tried to remember what the hell she was doing there in the first place.

Her eyes focused on the ingredients in front of her and she finally nodded, trying to suppress the grin that kept creeping up her face.

Pancakes, Raquel. Just focus on the damn pancakes.

* * *

_ New Year's Eve, 8:05 PM _

December 31st couldn’t have taken longer to arrive.

To say that Sergio was anxious was the understatement of the century. He was scared shitless. He was about to meet both Raquel’s daughter and mother and spend an entire evening with them. What if they didn’t like him? That would certainly make Raquel reconsider having anything with him in the first place.

And how the hell should he even behave around a kid? The last time he had been around kids was when he  _ was one _ . He didn’t know the first thing about talking to children, let alone how to make them like him.

So even though he had arrived five minutes earlier than scheduled, he had spent the past ten minutes standing on the front door of Raquel’s building looking like a fool. It was only when the neighbor from the first floor put his head out of the window for a second time, to check if he was still there, that he decided to finally get along with it and press her apartment number in the intercom.

“Sergio?” Her voice came out, slightly rugged through the intercom.

“Yes.”

She buzzed him in and he slowly made his way towards her apartment. He stopped in front of her door and before he could even think about knocking on it, she swung the door open.

Sergio blinked, taken back by how beautiful she looked. She wore a medium-length dress with large straps, in a white that nearly resembled the color of a pearl and contrasted perfectly with her tanned skin. She was barefoot and he had to look down in order to properly gaze into her eyes. 

Raquel smiled largely as she looked at him – he was wearing a social white shirt, social black plants and a black blazer. He looked like he was about to go to a fancy restaurant and she noticed that leaving out a tie was his understated way of remaining casual. She had a hard time trying to keep herself from laughing.

Noticing they had remained quiet for far too long, she took it upon herself to break the silence, muttering a small, “Hi.”

“Hi,” he replied, nudging his glasses up his nose. She bit her lower lip – God, she had missed that tic. “You look… beautiful.”

“Thanks. You look dashing too,” she offered, batting her eyelashes at him.

“Not overdressed?” He timidly questioned, stiffening his shoulders while she pondered her reply, tilting her head as she hummed.

“Any piece of clothing on you is far too many,” she teased and, upon seeing the auburn red in his cheeks, she laughed, pulling him by his arm. “Come on in.”

Still recovering from the flirtatious banter that she had sprung on him, he came inside and offered her the bottle he was holding. “Um, I brought some wine. It’s already chilled.”

“Thank you. Um, take off your shoes, please? House policy,” she smiled, taking the bottle from his hand. “Would you like some?”

“Yes, please,” he nodded as he took off his Italian leather shoes and placed them in the wooden crates filled with various sizes and colors of shoes next to the door.

Sergio traced her footsteps from the entrance to the living room, where he let his eyes wander around the apartment. It had a spacious living room, filled by a large couch, two large chairs, a coffee table and a large TV where he imagined Raquel and her daughter having their film marathons; there was a round wooden table with four seats, where he could picture them having their meals and Raquel helping Paula with her homework; the walls were covered in shelves with books, framed drawings that he could only assume were Paula’s and several family pictures.

“Sorry, it’s a little messy,” Raquel mumbled as she picked up two glasses and filled them with wine. “It’s hard to keep things tidy with a five year-old on a school break.”

“It’s a lovely home,” Sergio said, turning around and walking over to the kitchen counter.

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow in his direction. “I know it’s different that what you’re used to…”

Sergio frowned, taking a moment to fully comprehend what she was trying to say. She walked around the counter and stood in front of him, offering one of the wine glasses. He took one of the glasses from her hand, studying her as much as he was studying what to say.

“You know, that apartment in Coruña isn’t mine. It’s Andrés’,” he stated. “My only prized possession is an apartment downtown and it definitely isn’t luxurious. I don’t really come from money. I fell into a family full of it, sure, but… this? This is what I remember my home – you know, my  _ biological _ home – feeling like.”

Raquel looked down at the floor, wishing she had not said anything.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean–” She shook her head.

“You didn’t offend me,” he chuckled, taking her free hand in his and bringing it to his lips to place a chaste kiss on its back. She looked up at him and felt the corners of her lips curve up. “I just wanted you to know that when I say it’s lovely, I mean it.”

They gazed at each other in silence and she could feel the electricity fill up the air surrounding them. It took the sound of footsteps approaching for Raquel to break his gaze and let go of his hand, taking a deep breath as she turned around to see Mariví walk into the living room with a suspicious expression.

“Buenas noches,” she said, switching her focus between the two of them before finally settling on him. “You must be Sergio.”

“Sergio, this is my mom, Mariví,” Raquel waved at her mother, making way for them both to greet each other.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Murillo,” Sergio said, greeting her with a kiss on both cheeks.

“Not Mrs. Murillo! Mariví is just fine,” she said, cupping his face with one of her hands. “And I feel the same. My daughter hasn’t been the same since Coruña, you know?” 

“Mamá!” Raquel widened her eyes at her direction, feeling completely mortified.

“What? It’s true!” Mariví shrugged and Sergio looked at them, unsure of what to reply, but when he saw Raquel drink a large gulp of her wine, he turned to her mother instantly.

“Well, if we’re being truthful I can admit I haven’t been the same either,” he blurted out in a hoarse voice, nervously, each word slurred as if it had been ripped out his throat forcefully.

Mariví raised her eyebrows at his confession, an amusing smile dangling in her lips, and noticed that Sergio turned his head to look at Raquel, who was glancing up at him with a timid smile.

“Let me go check on Paula,” Mariví resolved, preferring to leave them both alone for a little longer. Then, as she reached the hallway, she called out to her daughter. “Hija, will you turn off the stove?”

“Sí, mamá,” Raquel answered, licking her lips as she watched Sergio smile at her shyly. “Come, make yourself comfortable.”

She walked over to the kitchen, motioning at the wooden stools, and circled the counter, turning off the stove and opening the pan lid to check on its content.

“It smells really good here. What is it?” Sergio questioned, taking a sip of his wine.

Raquel turned around with a smirk. “Espinacas con garbanzos.”

His jaw dropped as he looked at her, his eyes glistening as he watched her, waiting for her to say she was joking, but she just stared at him with affection.

“Really?” He cleared his throat, nodding restlessly. “Did your mom cook it?”

“No… I did,” she grinned and his expression mirrored hers, a wide smile and those two adorable dimples appearing on his face.

“I thought you didn’t like to cook,” he mused teasingly.

“Normally not,” she granted, taking a sip of wine. “But it was a special occasion.” 

His entire expression softened. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for coming,” Raquel replied. “I know spending New Year’s Eve with a mother, a daughter and a grandmother isn’t exactly the most enticing prospect…”

Sergio shook his head vehemently. “There isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be.”

She felt her heart pound in her chest because she knew, she could tell, that he was speaking from his own heart. That being here with her, with her family, was all that he wanted to do.

The way he looked at her just then – it resolved a knot in her insides she wasn’t even aware of. That small part of her that subdued her happiness, that small seed of self-doubt that Alberto had rammed inside of her with all of his abuse. She could feel its cells begin to dissolve slowly. There was still a long way to go, she was aware of that. But the way he looked at her, the way she could see all the affection he had for her… That was what made her realize – if she was able to love and allow herself be loved by someone? That meant Alberto wouldn’t win. That meant he wouldn’t have a hold on her ever again.

Sergio gulped nervously at the lack of her reply and took another sip of his wine. In return, Raquel rested her own glass on the counter, shaking her head as she brought herself back to reality.

“Cheese,” she whispered vaguely. He frowned, confused and probably sure that she was having a stroke. Then, she chuckled. “I was going to serve us cheese.”

She picked up a few blocks of cheese and cut them in small squares, adding them to a small ceramic tray with green grapes, apricots and black olives. She placed it on the counter top and circled it, sitting down in the stool next to him.

He turned his body in the stool to face her, a smirk dangling on his lips as she studied him suspiciously. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, clicking his tongue and trying to suppress a wider grin.

“ _ What _ ?” She insisted, letting out a chuckle.

He shrugged, finally giving in to her curiosity. “It’s weird seeing you in full clothing, that’s all.”

“We’ll see about that later,” she replied with a devilish grin, finding humor in the fact that even as he began to flirt, he still had the ability to be flustered when she flirted back. “That reminds me – I have your clothes washed, dried and folded. Not as neat as you fold them, but… I did my best.”

“That’s fine,” he shook his head, unable to tear his gaze away from her.

“Hija?” Mariví called her out from the hallway. “Look who’s ready!”

She walked into the living room holding hands with her granddaughter, who was wearing a white dress that matched Raquel’s perfectly. She had Raquel’s smile and nose and their eyes glistened in the same way when they grinned.

“Cariño! Que hermosa estás!” Raquel jumped off her stool to kiss her daughter’s cheeks and Sergio stood up beside her. “Come here, I want you to meet someone.” 

Mariví let go of Paula and watched as Raquel cleared the path between her daughter and her… Raquel gulped. Her own mind betrayed her. Sergio was not her  _ anything _ . 

“This is Sergio,” she appointed. “Sergio, this is Paula.”

To her surprise, Sergio kneeled down on the floor to greet her daughter. Unsure of how to greet a child and deciding against a kiss on the cheek and a handshake, he simply smiled.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Paula,” he offered. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Hi,” Paula replied, studying his face intently. “I haven’t heard much about you.”

Mariví smiled and Raquel winced, but Sergio took it in stride and simply laughed.

“Well, the good thing is that you’ll be able to judge for yourself, then,” he shrugged.

But Paula was far too smart for her own age. Raquel had already told him that.

Still, he was just as surprised as her mother was when Paula tilted her head curiously and squinted at him knowingly. “Are you dating my mom?”

Sergio’s eyes widened behind his glasses. “Uh…”

He looked up at Raquel, unsure of how to answer this, and she had to fight back the laughter from seeing the desperation in his eyes. She turned to her daughter and licked her lips.

“Kind of,” Raquel answered, glancing over at Sergio for assurance. He offered her a small nod, adjusting his glasses nervously. She looked at her daughter again to provide with an extra explanation. “We’re getting to know each other. And I wanted him to meet you.”

Paula’s eyes darted back to the brown haired man in front of her. Seemingly satisfied with the answer, she turned her attention to the one other topic that had crossed her mind.

“Were you the one who taught my mom how to make snow?”

“Uh, yes,” he replied, relieved that she was steering the conversation in a different direction. “Did you like it?”

Her eyes lit up immediately. “I  _ loved _ it,” she declared, approaching him with curiosity. “What else do you know how to make?”

Sergio inhaled deeply, trying to think of something, and an idea came to his mind. “Well, do you like experiments?”

“What are experiments?” She asked, spacing out the syllables to say it properly.

“Experiments are like a recipe where you mix several ingredients together. But instead of getting, say, a  _ pancake _ ...” He explained, using a piece of knowledge about Paula’s interests that Raquel had already provided him with. “... You get to see the reaction of those ingredients or what comes out of that situation.”

“And what can you do?” Paula squinted her eyes at him, waiting anxiously for his response.

“Do you want to see a volcano in a glass?” Sergio offered, thinking that the words  _ volcano  _ and  _ glass _ were possibly attractive enough for any child.

“ _ Yes _ !” Paula exclaimed, grinning. Then, she turned to Raquel, who had been watching the entire interaction with a silly smile on her face. “Can we do it now, mamá,  _ please _ ?”

“Of course, mi amor,” she replied, genuinely happy that her gut was right.

“We should do it in the kitchen, we wouldn’t want a volcano erupting in your living room floor, would we?” Sergio asked Paula, raising his eyebrows at her.

“Definitely not!” She shook her head and took Sergio’s hand in hers, making him stand up – albeit a little surprised by her small hand in his – and pulling him towards the kitchen.

Both Raquel and Mariví approached the kitchen counter to properly watch their experiment and Raquel told Sergio where he could find all of the materials he needed for his little experiment: a clear glass, baking soda, detergent and vinegar. He cleared the counter top that separated the kitchen from the living room and Paula had dragged the small stool she used to help her mom do the dishes and placed it next to Sergio, climbing up on it and waiting for his instructions. 

What neither Raquel or Paula had expected was that Sergio only put all of the ingredients in measuring cups and laid them all out in the counter top in front of the little girl, telling her which one to add to the glass and when.

“Good, stir it well, that’s perfect,” Sergio coaxed her and she put the spoon on the counter, looking up at him with expectancy in her eyes. “Now, our last ingredient… Vinegar.”

“And then what?” Paula asked, holding the measuring cup in her hand.

“And then we just watch.” 

“Okay…” The girl said, dipping the vinegar into the mix.

In a few seconds, they could all see the chemical reaction through the clear glass and a colored foam sprung from it, pouring the dish soap lava all over the counter top.

Paula shrieked with joy, clapping her hands excitedly and looked up at Sergio with adoration in his eyes. The moment wasn’t lost on Raquel, who could only stare at the both of them in wonder.

“Can we do it again?” The little girl asked Sergio, who glanced at Raquel for a definitive answer. The blonde only shrugged in response, smiling widely.

“I told you you’d create a little monster,” Raquel stuck out her tongue to her daughter, who growled like a monster in response. “You do your thing, we’ll set up the dinner table.”

As Mariví and Raquel set up all the food they had made, the plates and the cutlery on the wooden table, Sergio and Paula repeated the experiment a few times. When Paula was finally satisfied, they began cleaning the counter together.

Breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them, Paula smiled at him. “You know, I’d like it if you were dating mom, like, for real.”

Sergio looked down at her, his eyes widened and a small smile creeping up his lips. “You would?”

She nodded, turning her attention back to the task at hand and continuing her declaration matter-of-factly. “You’re cool and you make her smile.” 

He chuckled. “You know, Paula, you’re probably the first person ever to say I’m cool.”

All the worries Sergio had about being welcomed into Raquel’s family life stayed at the door’s threshold. He felt a tinge of nostalgia as he sat down to eat dinner with them, but strangely enough, the realization of this feeling didn’t make him sad. In fact, it made him yearn for the possibility of more nights like this.

He was eternally grateful for the life Otávio had provided for him. He loved Andrés for the brother he was, for the brother he aspired Sergio to be. And even though he was always treated by the De Fonollosa family as if he were one of them, he had never really felt like he belonged there. However, sitting in this small wooden table with Raquel, Paula and Mariví, talking and laughing about the most mundane things over homemade dinner? He felt like he belonged.

After dinner and dessert – and maybe a few too many glasses of wine – they put on some music on Raquel’s speakers as they waited for the turn of the year. Mariví asked Sergio to indulge her in a dance and, surprising even himself, he agreed, swaying with the elder Murillo around the living room for an entire song before Raquel cut in and asked for her turn with “the gallant gentleman”, as she put it herself.

The real struggle with dancing with Raquel was to keep their interactions PG-rated, because it was far too easy for him to think of everything he wanted to do with her when she breathed into his neck or ran her fingernails on his back.

Finally, as the clock neared midnight, they all put on their shoes and coats and went up to the rooftop of the building to watch the fireworks. It was really everything Raquel could’ve asked for – chanting the countdown in unison, popping open the bottle of champagne and drinking it straight from the bottle because she had forgotten to bring up the plastic flutes, watching Paula ask Sergio to put her on his shoulder so she would have a better view of the fireworks, seeing Mariví’s tears of joy at sharing this experience with her daughter and granddaughter, hugging and wishing each other a happy New Year.

They had been watching the fireworks for a moment when Sergio seemed to have remembered something important. He warned Paula that he had something for her and that she would have to climb down from his shoulders to use it. When she jumped down, looking at him excitedly, he reached for something in the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a set of Roman Candles and her eyes shone brighter than the sparks in the sky. He helped her light one of them with a lighter and watched with a smile as she danced around the roof entertaining Mariví as if she were a ballet dancer.

He felt a pair of arms circle him from behind and smiled at the intimate touch that only Raquel’s embrace could offer. He slowly turned around to face her and noticed she had tears in her eyes.

“Hey,” he cupped her face, worry creasing his eyes. “What is it?”

She looked up at him, shaking her head ever so slightly as her arms pulled his body further against her. “Thank you,” she muttered, nearly out of breath. It was taking all of her strength not to start weeping right there and then.

“For what?” His eyebrows tied into a knot, confused, even if a small smile had appeared on his face.

“For being here,” she shrugged, smiling. _For being you,_ she wanted to say.

Before he could even think of replying, she leaned in to place a chaste kiss on his lips, tearing herself from him before she couldn’t stop herself from acting upon her real desire. Then, she glanced behind him and motioned at Paula with her chin.

“Look at her,” she said. Sergio turned around, placing one arm around Raquel’s shoulders as they watched Paula skip around with the Roman Candle.

It didn’t take long for Mariví to excuse herself to go to bed, but Paula remained there with Sergio and Raquel until they ran out of Roman Candles. She was convinced to go back to the apartment to have a cup of chocolate milk and watch an episode of her favorite tv show, but she didn’t even make it past the first five minutes before falling asleep on the couch while Sergio and Raquel tidied up the kitchen.

Raquel smiled, picking her up and taking her to her bedroom. She came back to the living room to find Sergio standing by the couch, taking a sip of the rest of his wine. When he saw the look in her eye as she approached him, he instantly placed the glass on the table.

She walked up to him slowly, running her hands over his chest through the social shirt he was wearing and looking up at him from under her eyelashes. She felt his hands around her waist, pulling her towards him and, tired of waiting the whole night for this moment, closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his.

The rest of the world faded around them, there was nothing else she could hear but the sound of their lips on one another and their shaky breaths. That is, of course, until Sergio’s phone started buzzing on the back pocket of his pants.

Raquel unwillingly pulled her lips from his to check if he was going to get it.

“Let it ring,” Sergio replied and she smiled, crashing her lips on his once again.

Eventually, the buzzing stopped and he trailed his kisses down her jawline and neck. And then, as she let out a gasping sound, the buzzing started once again.

Raquel rolled her eyes, placing both hands on his shoulders and pulling away from him.

“Pick it up,” she demanded wearily. He looked at her cautiously. “Just pick it up and get it over with!”

He snorted at her impatience and took the phone from his pocket, inspecting the screen. “It’s a video call.”

She sighed, stepping away from him for good.

“Well,” she motioned at the phone. “We were already interrupted anyway…”

Sergio took a deep breath and adjusted his glasses before answering the call. When Silene’s video loaded, all he could see was a close up of her right eye and forehead.

“Silene?” He called out and it seemed to do the trick. Soon, she adjusted the phone on her hand to show her entire face.

“SERGIOOOOOO!” She exclaimed, throwing her arms up in celebration.

“Silene, are you okay?” Sergio asked, preoccupied.

“I’M GREAT. WHERE ARE YOU?” She yelled over the loud music that was playing on her end.

He exhaled. “I’m at that dinner I told you about.”

Silene shook her head, squinting her eyes at him. “I CAN’T HEAR YOU, WHY AREN’T YOU HERE?”

Raquel walked over to Sergio’s side, scrunching up her eyes in Silene’s direction, simultaneously pissed that she interrupted their moment and concerned for how much the girl had to drink.

Sergio rolled his eyes. “I-”

“WAIT, WHO’S THAT?” Silene asked, noticing Raquel’s presence and pointing at her.

“Hi," Raquel waved at the phone as Sergio muttered an ‘I’m sorry’ in her ear.

“WOW, YOU’RE PRETTYYY,” Silene gasped in awe.

Raquel frowned, still unsure of what exactly was happening. “Thanks?”

“SERGIOOOO,” Silene shouted, turning back her attention to her cousin again. “COME NOW, THE PARTY IS SO GOOD, BRING YOUR HOT DATE WITH YOU!”

“Silene, she’s not–” Sergio tried to explain, but was interrupted by the girl once again. In a split second, her carefree attitude was replaced by a furious expression at something that appeared to be happening off screen.

“OH MY  _ GOD _ , ANDRÉS,” she shouted. “ _ QUE COJONES _ ARE YOU DOING?”

The camera went all black and suddenly all they could hear was the sound of an altercation over the loud music, people yelling and glass shattering.

“STOP IT!” Silene yelled. “DO  _ NOT _ –”

And just like that, the call ended.

“Oh, shit,” Sergio muttered. He glanced sideways at Raquel and she sighed, nodding in understanding.

She moved to pick up the glass of wine he had settled on the table as he tried to call Silene back, but she didn’t answer. He tried calling Andrés a few times too, with no success. 

Finally, after a few minutes, he looked up at her with the most regretful expression.

She put the glass down on her coffee table again and approached him, cupping his face with both of her hands so he would look at her.

He raised his own hands to hold her wrists affectionately. “Raquel, I…” 

“You have to go,” she affirmed, her gaze focused on his worried eyes. He nodded, quietly. “Because Silene needs you,” she continued and he nodded once again. He looked down at her with a wistful expression and she smiled softly. “You don’t have to go alone.”

Sergio sighed. “I couldn’t possibly ask you to come…” 

“You’re not asking,” she resolved, caressing the nape of his neck. “And I could definitely use a party. It’s been years since I’ve been to a proper party on New Year’s Eve.”

“Are you sure?” He frowned. “I mean, you know Andrés and you’ve seen the state Silene is in…”

She rose to the tip of her toes and placed another kiss on his lips. An intense, powerful kiss that she hoped would do enough to convince him that she wasn’t going to stay behind on this rescue mission. She pulled back, feeling his teeth gently tug at her bottom lip, and looked up at him, trying to steady her breaths.

“I want to go,” she whispered. “If you want me to, of course.”

“Vale,” he nodded, smiling.

She smiled back. “Vale.”

* * *

_ January 1st, 1:37 AM _

Sergio had spent the entire Uber ride in silent distress. Every once in a while he would pick up his phone and try either his brother or his cousin again, with no success. Raquel sat patiently beside him, wearing the same light brown coat she had put on when they went to her building’s rooftop and white pearl high heels, matching her dress. She didn’t know how to help him, she didn’t even know exactly what to say, so in an attempt to soothe him, she placed her hand over his on his lap and intertwined their fingers, looking at him sideways to make sure he was comfortable with her touch.

Sergio smiled and shot a grateful look at her, tightening his grip around her hand, and gulped nervously. She could tell there were a thousand possible scenarios going through his mind, one worse than the other, and knew that nothing she could say would have any lasting effect on his worries.

The car finally pulled over at their destiny and Raquel frowned upon seeing they had arrived at a hotel in the middle of the Plaza de Santa Ana. She waited for Sergio to come out of the car and looked at him curiously.

“Is this it?” She asked, confused.

“Yeah, Silene rented a spot here for her party,” Sergio answered nonchalantly, offering his arm for her to hold.

She grabbed his arm gently as they both entered the hotel’s lounge and she couldn’t help but notice how Sergio simply nodded towards the receptionist and headed straight for the elevator.  _ Guess he’s a regular, then _ , she thought to herself as they entered the cabin. He pressed the last button on the top row and took a deep breath.

Raquel didn’t know what she was expecting but this? This was not it.

When the elevator doors opened and they passed through a small hall where they checked her coats, Sergio led her outside to this sumptuous rooftop bar that had a 360 degree view of Madrid. The place was decorated with scenic lighting and flowers, about a hundred people crawled up the place in different areas, some of them dancing to an electronic music, others laying around in the sitting booths  _ clearly _ doing drugs and making out with each other in groups, all while famous movie scenes that involved parties were being projected against a tall white wall. It was the clear cut definition of a Great Gatsby party, if Gatsby was a 20-something rave-loving heiress.

“Oh, wow… This is… a huge party,” Raquel said, still trying to make sense of what was going on around her.

“As Silene’s parties tend to be,” Sergio sighed, looking down at Raquel. “Also very loud.”

“Yeah,” she chuckled. “I feel kind of…” She trailed off, witnessing a group of people downing tequila shots followed by snorting what looked like a line of coke. “Old?”

“Me too,” he smiled, glad to know he wasn’t the only one uncomfortable in these types of gathering.

“How old is Silene again?”

“27,” he replied, looking around for his brother and cousin.

“Ah,” Raquel nodded, as if she was still trying to make sense of Silene’s entire existence.

“Look, there’s Andrés,” Sergio pointed out to a sitting booth where he had recognized the back of Andrés’ head and they began making their way towards his older brother. 

When he was close enough, he placed a hand on his shoulder and Andrés turned around, the three of them let out a small gasp at the same time – for entirely different reasons. Andrés smiled, delighted to see that his brother had decided to join the party after all, and with the woman he was in love with nonetheless! Sergio and Raquel, however, were focused on the bloody piece of napkin that was shoved up Andrés’ left nostril.

“Andrés, what the fuck?” Sergio muttered, shaking his head.

“Hermanito, manners, please!” His brother raised his hands up, palms turned to them, signaling him to stop. “Raquel, buenas noches, happy New Year.”

“Buenas noches, Andrés, happy New Year to you too,” Raquel offered him a weak smile before pointing at him. “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your face?”

“Oh, you should have been here to see it,” he answered, waving off his hands and gesticulating wildly as he recounted the story. “This big dude made a homophobic remark at Martín and I was like, ‘who the fuck are you and why are you even here?’, so I was all I’m gonna krav maga this fucker and I shoved his face on the table and rammed my knee into his groin and when he fell to the floor he tried to grab onto something for balance but ended up grabbing a tablecloth and this whole cascade of champagne flutes shattered all over the floor,” he put a hand over his belly as he laughed. “It was beautiful.”

Sergio and Raquel both looked at him without blinking. It took them a moment until one of them finally broke the silence.

“Okay, but what about your nose?” Sergio asked, scrunching up his face.

“Ah. Right. Silene punched me because I made a mess at her party,” he said, turning his head sideways to face a spot on the rooftop where the floor was still humid. “It’s all good now, everything’s cleaned up! And the homophobe has been properly shown off by the securities. All’s good, want a drink?”

Sergio sighed, exasperated. “I should go find Silene.”

“There’s no need,” Raquel said, pointing her index finger to a couple of women making out next to the balcony. “She’s right there… with  _ Ágata _ ?!”

Both Sergio and Andrés looked over in the direction Raquel had pointed out. The older one giggled and the younger one groaned. Raquel had to admit it was enticing how they seemed like two opposite persons, yin and yang, the thinker and the doer. She raised her eyebrows when the kiss the ladies were sharing became far too intimate for them to keep looking and the three of them shared a knowing look.

“Well, now you can join me for a drink, huh?” Andrés offered again with a satisfied smile. “Relax, Sergio, everything is fine!”

“You could have answered any of my phone calls to let me know that,” Sergio muttered under his breath.

“Oh, shit, I have no idea where I left my phone,” Andrés patted his clothes checking for the mobile but midway through his search he gave up and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Look, the bar is over there, go treat yourselves to a drink.”

“I’d like a drink,” Raquel shrugged in acceptance and Andrés gave his brother his best ‘see?’ look.

Sergio nodded instantly. “Of course.”

“I’ll be right here if you need me,” Andrés winked at them, sitting down on his booth again and engaging in a flirtatious banter with the couple sitting next to him as Raquel and Sergio headed for the bar. 

He ordered a whisky on the rocks and Raquel asked for a margarita. He smiled at her, remembering the first and last time he enjoyed that drink he was in her presence. She smiled back at him, sure that he was thinking back to their time together in Coruña.

“I’m sorry…” Sergio apologized, shaking his head as they leaned against the grid with their drinks. “For dragging you to this party and unnecessarily at that. It’s just, with Andrés and Silene, you never know…”

“Sergio, relax,” she smiled. “I’m not here against my will, I’m the one who wanted to come, remember? And if you take away the electronic music and drug abuse, this is actually really nice. You can see the entire city from up here.”

Raquel looked out at the city lights, breathing in the damp air and letting herself ease off into the moment. Sergio, on the other hand, could only gaze at her. 

Suddenly, an idea came to his mind and he smiled. “I can solve one of those two problems.” 

“What?” Raquel asked, watching as he left her alone to approach the DJ. 

She scowled in disbelief as Sergio made a request to the tattooed man with headphones larger than his head and they sealed the accord by shaking hands. She smiled, certain that he had slipped the man an euro bill in that handshake, and examined him as he approached her again with a smirk on his face.

As soon as he reached her, the electronic music was replaced by a version of Van Morrison’s Days Like This that Raquel had never heard before. She grinned, a question on the tip of her tongue as he slid an arm around her waist.

“I had to compromise a little,” Sergio explained. “He said he would play Van Morrison if he could add his touch to it.”

Raquel laughed, shaking her head at his thoughtfulness, and swung her hips sideways to the song’s rhythm. “Thank you,” she muttered, running a hand through his shirt.

Their private moment didn’t last long, because as soon as Ágata heard from Andrés that Raquel was at the party, she had unceremoniously interrupted the couple, albeit with a couple of apologies, and dragged Raquel away to the dance floor. It was when Sergio finally joined Andrés, who was now excitedly debating with Martín about the pros and cons of going to bed with a married couple – a decision he would have regretted instantly if Raquel, Silene and Ágata hadn’t joined them soon enough with a tray of tequila shots.

Sergio wouldn’t admit it unless he had a gun to his head, but he was actually having a good time at this party. Although, he was certain that it had less to do with the party itself and more to do with a particular company of his.

It was when the clock neared 3 AM that Raquel leaned in.

“I have something to show you,” she whispered, her lips brushing against his ear.

They excused themselves from the group and she led him to the small hallway by the elevator, taking him through the fire exit door and pushing him onto the nearest wall as soon as the door closed behind him. Her hands slid up his chest, breathing out wistfully as she gazed at him with lust crowning her eyes.

“I don’t follow,” Sergio cleared his throat, using all of his strength to mutter the words in a desperate, if late, attempt to tease her. “What is it that you wanted to show me?”

“My appreciation,” Raquel smiled playfully, letting her fingernails scrape down his chest and pull the waist of his pants, sliding her hand in and caressing him over the fabric of his briefs.

He let out a muffled groan, quickly, sprawling his hands on her ass and inverting their positions so her back would be leaning against the wall. His mouth hovered inches over her, his warm breath tantalizing her as she slid a leg around his waist, pulling him further against her. He pressed his bulge onto the wetness of her underwear and she moaned, finally pulling him in for a kiss. 

They kissed deeply, intensely, pouring all of their desire for one another in their lips, the way their tongues circled one another, not battling for control, but relishing in the pleasure they were providing one another. His hand cupped one of her breasts, pinching one of her nipples over the fabric of the dress, while she undulated her body and twisted her hips against him, further hardening his bulge.

When they finally pulled away to catch their breaths, Sergio looked into her eyes. “How are you feeling about this party now?”

Raquel shook her head. “I’m so over it.”

“Good,” he chuckled.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Grabbing their coats and taking an Uber ride home with Sergio was the most tortuous experience of Raquel’s life. It took some serious amount of self-control to keep herself from straddling him right in the backseat of the car and they were barely able to say a word to each other before thanking the driver and rushing out of the car to enter Raquel’s building.

She wasn’t exactly sure how they managed to walk up the stairs so quickly as drunk as they were and an even more accomplishable feat was how quiet they both were as they entered Raquel’s apartment and placed their shoes and coats by the door. They headed straight for Raquel’s bedroom. She locked the door behind her as he took off his glasses, a charged silence filling up the room.

She walked over to where he was standing, next to her nightstand, their breathing heavy as they looked at one another longingly. Raquel was the first to move, rising to the tip of her toes for the second time that night to place a kiss on his lips.

She brushed her lips against his once again, gently, until his arms circled her waist and pulled her against him, deepening the kiss into something far more urgent and fiery. Sergio searched for the back opening of her dress and fidgeted with the buttons opening them far too abruptly for the dress to remain intact, but neither of them cared.

Raquel did the same to Sergio’s shirt as her dress fell into a puddle on the floor and she pushed his shirt off his shoulders while he laid kisses on her neck and grazed his fingertips around her bare breasts. She exhaled loudly, undoing his belt and taking off his pants as fast as she could.

He carried her off the floor and laid her with her back on the mattress, kissing down her throat and neckline, the hair in his beard grazing against her soft skin and bringing shivers down her spine.

“I missed this,” she slurred as Sergio brushed his lips on her breasts.

He reached for her hand, intertwining her fingers with his and trailing down kisses on her abdomen until he reached her inner thighs.

She breathed out heavily and brought her free hand to grab a fistful of his hair, begging him for his touch. He took his time, kissing her inner thighs, rubbing his beard against her skin, stripping her of the black lace underwear she had put on, exhaling warm breaths over her center.

When he finally ran his tongue along her wet slit, she hissed, arching her back. He began sucking and nibbling her clit and could only feel her grip tighten around his hand. She moaned loudly, a feeling of restlessness beginning to build up at the pit of her stomach. He continued applying different pressures and rhythms until she felt her legs tremble and her lips quiver, letting out a boisterous moan.

Her entire body crumbled under his lips, she breathed heavily, languidly, his mouth still alternating between pressing kisses and grazing his teeth around her throbbing center. When she finally regained consciousness, she pulled his hair and he looked up at her with hunger. 

“Sergio…” She muttered with great difficulty. “Come here.”

He followed her demand, standing up from the bed to remove his boxer briefs and drying his mouth with the back of his hand before climbing on top of her. She pulled him in for a kiss, tasting herself on his lips, humming against him in satisfaction.

She brushed her fingers on her wet slit and searched for his bulge, using her own liquid as a lubricant to massage his already hard cock.

Sergio moaned, letting his head fall on her shoulder as he nearly succumbed to the pleasure of her touch. Suddenly, he grabbed her wrist and held her hand above her head, turning his head so he could nibble on her earlobe.

“You know what I missed?” He all but groaned in her ear. 

She looked up at him lasciviously and, just as she parted her lips to ask him what, he entered her, filling her in completely. She moaned, her eyes rolling to the back of her head before being able to glance at him again.

“This,” he smiled, finally beginning his movements, thrusting slow and gentle as she eased into his length.

She threw an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer to her as she moved her hips rhythmically under him. She unconsciously dug her fingernails on his back and smiled as she remembered that he had already registered this reaction in his inventory. Following her silent cue, he began thrusting harder and faster as she moved her hips accordingly.

It didn’t take long for Raquel’s orgasm to build up again and she threw herself at the ecstasy without hesitation. Watching her come was what tipped Sergio over the edge and he climaxed soon after, emptying himself inside her and falling on top of her, exhausted.

They laid together for several long minutes, in silence, until he removed his soft limb from inside of her and laid on his side, resting his head on his hand. She slowly mirrored his position, laying on her side to glance at him.

He grazed his fingertips over the length of her body, his gaze tracing the same path of his fingers – down her cheek, her jawline, her neck, her arm, her waist, the side of her ass, her thigh… He could remain there for the rest of the day just memorizing every inch of her body. He sighed wistfully.

“I should… probably get going. It’s late – or, rather, early – and you’re probably tired,” he pointed out, putting a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Sergio…” Raquel bit her bottom lip, her hand caressing his chest. “Would you stay?”

He glanced at her with a curious expression. “What about–”

“Mamá doesn’t mind and… I’m sure Paula won’t either,” Raquel interrupted him, certain that her roommates were part of the question he was about to make. “In fact, I think you’ve already won her over, you know?”

He smiled. “It’s reciprocate.”

She brought a hand to his hair, caressing it with her fingers while she gazed at him. It was hard to pinpoint the exact moment Raquel had decided to throw her concerns out the window, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that he had been able to diffuse those concerns one by one in his own way.

Then, she asked a question that she wouldn’t have asked in a million years before that lockdown. “So will you? Stay?”  _ And start the new year with me _ , she wanted to add, but restrained herself from that added layer of hopeful possibilities.

Luckily, there wasn’t time for her to regret her question.

He simply smiled, gently stroking her waist as he nodded. “I would love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez, that was a long ass chapter lmao I hope you guys liked it!!
> 
> Excited to hear back from you <3


	13. Fusión

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys!! I'm sorry for taking so long with this chapter, work has been crazy and my computer died and I ended up writing this entire chapter on my phone hahaha. My fingers are not very pleased, but I hope you are?
> 
> Anyways, this is the second to last chapter of this fic and I just want to thank all of you for your sweet messages and comments. You guys are really the best. I'll leave the long ass text for the final chapter but I just wanted to say that ❤️

_ January 1st, 7:54 AM _

Was it possible for a body to ache in its entirety?

From the tip of her hair to the pinky in her feet, Raquel felt like her entire body was both in utter pain and completely numb. That’s what she got for partying like a 20-year-old when she was, in fact, a 40-year-old.

She groaned, covering her eyes with her arm, and heard Sergio muffle a laugh beside her.

He laid down on the bed to cuddle her and began kissing her neck while she hummed.

“Hi,” he whispered in her ear, his beard grazing her skin.

“Hi…” She muttered, bringing a hand to the back of his head to caress his hair. “Ugh. My head hurts.”

“Thought you might say that,” he replied, sitting up again and grabbing a glass of water from the nightstand. “Here.”

She turned around and opened her eyes to see his arm stretched with just the thing she needed in his hands. “Thanks.”

Raquel smiled, grabbing the glass from his hand as she sat up and drank the whole liquid in a few large gulps.

“There’s also tea if you want some,” he offered, leaning against Raquel’s headboard.

“Tea?” She frowned at him. “How long have you been awake?”

“Not so long,” he chuckled. “But I did run into your mother when I went to the kitchen…”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, God. Did she say anything embarrassing? She did, didn’t she?”

“She asked if we  _ slept _ well. Emphasis on the verb sleep,” Sergio smiled, adjusting his glasses to hide his embarrassment. “And she insisted on making me a cup of tea, hence…”

“Sorry. I know running into someone’s aging mother the morning after sex with them isn’t the most enticing ordeal,” Raquel bit her lower lip, putting away the empty glass and laying on her side, throwing an arm around his waist apologetically.

“It really wasn’t a problem,” Sergio circled his arm around her waist and pulled her further against him, but she still seemed particularly anxious, biting her lower lip and looking away from him. “Hey,” he muttered, bringing his free hand to lift her chin so she would look at him. “I get it. You wanted to be here. It’s the first day of the year.”

“Yeah,” she nodded, giving him a soft smile. “Thanks for being so cool about all of this.” 

“It’s the second time in two days a Murillo has described me as cool,” he mused. “I like it,” they both laughed. 

Sergio kissed the top of her head while lazily drawing patterns on her bare back.

“Look, I know you and your family are a package deal,” he said, breaking the comfortable silence they had fallen into.

“We sure are,” Raquel smiled, looking up at him.

“I happen to really like the package,” Sergio smiled back, gazing at her with such adoration that she tightened her embrace around him. 

“Hm, you do? How much?” She teased.

“Very much…” He leaned in, planting a soft kiss on her lips.

Before he could pull away, she placed her hand on the back of his head and pulled him in for a deeper kiss, circling her tongue around his and tasting the sweet chamomile flavor in his mouth. He gladly returned the kiss, laying her back on the mattress and pushing himself on top for her.

She gladly hummed against his lips before gradually slowing down the kiss. She pulled away reluctantly, laying a couple gentle pecks on his lips before sighing.

“Okay, I’m gonna take a shower or else I’ll be glued to this bed with you,” she confessed.

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” he said, nuzzling her neck.

Raquel laughed, pushing him away gently and getting up from the bed. He silently admired her naked body as she walked away from him.

“We’re not in Coruña anymore, Toto,” she turned, raising her eyebrows at him teasingly. 

“I got that reference!” Sergio exclaimed, genuinely overwhelmed. “I saw that one.”

“Oh, thank goodness. This would definitely be over if you hadn’t,” she joked, smiling back at him from the bathroom door. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” he smiled, still incredulous that it was the first day of the year and he was in Raquel Murillo’s bedroom listening to her shower.

He checked his phone and replied to a few messages from Andrés, Silene and Martín, especifically smiling at one of the pictures Silene sent him and, although he didn’t remember it being taken, it was particularly pretty. He was standing with his back turned to the camera almost completely and his arms were around Raquel’s waist and hers were around his neck and she was wearing the prettiest smile he had ever seen.

He had to hold back a chuckle as he realized that this was how they were seen from the outside. They looked like two lovesick teenagers with silly grins who couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Raquel walked back to the bedroom after the shower still naked and looked at him curiously.

“What are you smiling at?” She asked, opening her closet and putting on her underwear.

“Silene took a picture of us,” he explained, turning his phone for her to see.

“What?” She walked up to the bed and leaned in to look at the screen closely. “Wow, that’s… really pretty. We look good.”

She said, biting her tongue not to add the word “together” at the end of the sentence.

“Hey, do you want to put on your clothes?” She asked him, walking back to the closet. “You know, instead of wearing the same clothes from last night?”

“That would be perfect,” he replied, putting away his phone, and the next thing he knew she had already thrown his shirt and pants on his lap. “Thanks,” he chuckled, looking up at her to see her smiling at him as she put on an oversized long-sleeved shirt. “Can I take a shower really quick?”

“Of course,” she replied.

Raquel waited for him to come out of the shower and put on his clothes and they stepped out of the bedroom together. Mariví was sitting in the living room table, finishing her cup of coffee when she glanced up to see them.

“Morning, mamá,” Raquel smiled, sitting down on the table, and Sergio sat next to her, smiling at Mariví as well.

“Morning, mi amor,” Mariví happily replied, getting up from the table with her empty cup and plate in hand. “Sergio, would you care for more tea?”

“No, thanks, Mariví,” he replied, still slightly embarrassed but content that she was seemingly so keen of him.

“Coffee, then?” She raised her eyebrows knowingly and Sergio smiled as he realized Raquel shared those expressions as well.

“Coffee sounds great,” he nodded.

“Me too, please,” Raquel beamed at her mother, biting her lower lip.

“I know, I know,” Mariví replied, walking towards the kitchen, but not before turning back to glance at Sergio. “Have you noticed how this one needs her caffeine yet?”

“Oh, certainly,” he chuckled, gazing at Raquel teasingly. “Like an addict.”

Raquel stuck out her tongue at him. “It’s perfectly healthy to have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, thank you very much.”

“Hija, are you feeling okay?” Her mother asked, returning from the kitchen with a thermos bottle.

“Why do you ask?” Raquel frowned, taking the bottle from her hand.

“I heard some noises earlier this morning…” She explained while Raquel poured coffee on her cup. “Guess it was something else then.”

Raquel widened her eyes. 

“Por Díos, mamá, you’re going to kill me with embarrassment one day,” she shook her head, passing the bottle over to Sergio and shooting him an apologetic look as he smiled, even while his cheeks were burning red.

“Hi,” a small voice echoed behind him. Sergio turned on his seat to find Paula looking at him curiously.

“Morning, cariño,” Raquel greeted, opening her arms as her daughter walked into them for a hug. “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” she replied, untangling herself from her mother and tilting her head slightly at the house guest. “Hi, Sergio.”

“Hi, Paula,” he smiled and Raquel picked her up so she would sit on her lap.

“Did you sleep here?” The little one asked him, still watching him closely.

“Um, yeah, I did. I hope that’s okay with you,” Sergio said, his fingers playing with the rim of his cup.

“Yeah. Sometimes my mom lets my friends sleepover and we have a slumber party,” Paula smiled. “Did you guys have a slumber party too?”

Sergio looked up at Raquel with his eyes widened. What was he supposed to reply to that? Raquel tried to suppress her laughter.

“Um, yes,” she agreed, looking back at him with a smile. “I guess you can say we had a slumber party, right, Sergio?”

“R-right,” he stuttered, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Now,” Raquel sighed, looking up at him. “What I really want to know is: who is gonna pass me the bread?”

* * *

_ January 12th, 8:46 AM _

Raquel stood in the middle of her work office feeling a little distraught. It felt weird to be back in the office, especially after the last few weeks when it felt like she was living in a parallel universe. Truth be told, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, going to work and feeling productive was no longer the thing Raquel craved for.

That is not to say she no longer felt fulfilled by her career, far from that, but it was as if thing had been put in perspective. Being with Sergio scared her at first, because she knew she wasn’t one to half ass things. She either did it fully or not at all. So it didn’t surprise her that she found herself longing for Sergio for the past few weeks. 

There wasn’t a day that went by that they didn’t talk through text messages or phone calls. Sergio took her out on dinner dates that more often than not were cut short when she announced that they should go to his apartment so they could have sex. Raquel was enjoying herself and her love life for the first time in ages. It was refreshing.

Although what had actually surprised her was how willing he was to accommodate her and her family into his life. After New Years, Sergio had become a familiar presence in the Murillo household and their winter break activities. Paula had enjoyed so much practicing small experiments with Sergio that he showed up on their doorstep one day with a game of laboratory experiments for children. Mariví had invited Sergio for their Dia de Los Reyes celebration. Hell, he even went  _ ice skating _ with them at the site that was put up in the park.

She could barely believe that this was the same man she saw pace around the company floors with a serious expression and a pile of stacked folders in his arms, always speaking hurriedly and arrogantly as if he genuinely thought he knew everything. The Sergio she had come to know was so, so different from that. 

Raquel sighed, shaking her head as if the motion would help getting him off her mind. If only it were that simple. It seemed as if he had found a crack in her façade and led himself in, making her feel all of the things she could’ve sworn she would never be able to feel after Alberto.

She looked down at her clock and started tidying up her desk as she waited for the start of this extraordinary meeting that was deemed so important that it had to happen in a fucking Saturday morning with less than twelve hours of notice.

She was adjusting the portrait frames with pictures of Paula when she caught a glimpse of him walking up to her. She looked up, smiling.

“Hi,” Sergio smiled back.

“Hi.”

She froze in her heels when he walked around her desk, leaning in as if he were about to kiss her, but took a step back when she finally understood what was happening.

“ _ Sergio _ ,” she scolded, shooting him a warning look. “The rules.”

“Right,” he raised a hand in apology, nervously adjusting his glasses. “Sorry. Force of habit, I guess.”

Raquel smiled gently. “Well, today we’re just work colleagues. Please.”

“Sure,” he nodded, taking a step back and licking his lips, still embarrassed and unsure of how to act after her reminder. 

“Do you have any idea what this meeting is about?” Raquel broke the silence, hoping to ease the tension that had unwillingly entered the room.

“Not in the slightest,” he replied. “Why?”

“I don’t know. Something feels off,” she shrugged. “I’m probably reading too much into it.”

Sergio mulled over her words for a moment before frowning. “How long have you been here?”

“Half an hour.”

“Why so early?”

“I like to focus before a meeting,” she smiled softly.

“So what, do you pull off a power posture for five minutes?” Sergio attempted to lighten the mood, putting both hands on his hip as he raised his eyebrows at her. “The Superman pose?" 

“Shut up,” Raquel laughed and watched as he undid the posture with a smile dangling on his lips. “You know, this is the most we’ve actually talked in the office.”

“You’re right,” he nodded at the realization before shooting her a mischievous look. “Although I wish we weren’t talking…”

“Sergio,” she scolded him again, although this time she was smiling. “Get out.”

“But I–” He tried to defend himself before being interrupted.

“You just lost your privileges, leave,” she pointed at the door with a hint of amusement in her tone.

He smiled, putting his hands in the pocket of his pants. God, he looked good on that suit. “Can I at least get you some coffee?”

“Well, I won’t say no to coffee,” she mused, biting her lower lip. “It’s–”

“Black, no sugar,” he interrupted, tilting his head slightly. “I know.”

Raquel smiled. “Thanks.”

“See you in there,” he offered before exiting her office.

She took a deep breath before adjusting her jumpsuit and picking up her work folder and a pen. She headed into the conference room, which was still empty except for a small stack of folders and pens carefully aligned on the table. She smiled, knowing for a fact that those belonged to Sergio, and sat down on the other side of the table, near one of its corners.

Sergio came in not long after, holding two cups of coffee, and handed it to her silently before taking up his seat.

“Thanks,” she muttered, looking up as they were joined by another colleague.

Slowly, the room filled up with familiar faces from the Senior and Executive staff and they all chit chatted in low voices until Otávio entered the room.

Raquel could never make out what she thought about her boss. He was an incognita to her. But now, after having heard the tales of Sergio’s childhood and teen years, she could finally understand what was so off-putting about his presence. It inspired menace.

He wasn’t a large man. He was of medium height, had a carefully aligned white hair and beard, but when he walked into a room his presence took up space. Whenever he did so, the whole room would fall quietly, as it did just now as he walked up silently to the chair reserved to him at the end of the table.

Raquel looked up at Sergio, who quietly he rolled his silver pen in his fingers.

“Good morning. Thank you for joining us today in, um, such short notice,” Otávio’s voice filled the room. He looked over to his right, motioning his hand. “Prieto.”

“Should I–?” Prieto gesticulated, clearly taken back that he was already given the floor to initiate the meeting. “Okay. Well, um, the reason we’re gathered here today is because we have an acquiral to discuss.”

“Which acquiral?” Antoñanzas questioned and Raquel felt her eyebrows frown as well. She wasn’t aware of any current negotiations.

Prieto let out a sigh, before finally responding. “Ours.” 

A wave of murmurs took up the room and Sergio and Raquel shared a confused look silently. Prieto cleared his throat, trying to gather the attention again, but it was less effective than what Otávio’s mere presence evoked.

He decided to speak over the muffled voices anyway, and little by little they died out. “A Latam media company is currently interested in our Spanish audience.”

“What company are we talking about?” Sergio asked.

“LGM,” Otávio replied and silence befell the room.

“That’s huge,” Raquel voiced out. “Are we… are we interested in that?”

“That’s what this meeting is about. We want numbers, projections, contractual obligations,” Prieto explained. “We also want this as soon as possible. The longer we take, the longer we risk this getting out to the press and we do not want that.”

“How soon?” Suárez sighed in distress, already fearing the answer for his question.

“You have one hour,” Otávio decreed, getting up from his chair and scrolling through his phone as he marched out of the room, leaving everyone else behind scrambling over their belongings.

Raquel waited for her coworkers to hurriedly leave the room and glanced over to find Sergio still sitting on his chair, writing furiously on his notepad.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” she chuckled and he looked up at her with his eyebrows raised. “You’re having fun with this, aren’t you?”

“Well, yes, it is kind of fun to me,” he admitted, smiling and playing with his pen. “Don’t you find it invigorating? It’s like a chess match.”

“Invigorating is not the adjective I would use to describe a chess match,” Raquel pondered with a smirk. 

Sergio chuckled, before straightening his posture. “So what do you think?”

Raquel sighed. “I think this is nonsense. If a player like LGM wants the Spanish market, I’d say they come and get it. What they’re doing is come after everything this company built and take it for themselves.”

“I don’t know,” Sergio frowned, shaking his head. “An acquiral could mean, under the right terms, that we’d get to access their market as well. It would certainly make it easier for us to spread our content in Latam.” 

Raquel raised her eyebrows in amusement. “So we’re on opposite sides on this. Who would have guessed?” 

Sergio finally stood from his seat to rise up to her eye level. “Let the best one win, then,” he proposed, circling back to their conversation at the party in Coruña.

“Oh, so you’re competing with me now? I thought you said you didn’t care about any of this,” Raquel smiled, crossing her arms in front of her.

He shook his head, an arrogant smile spreading across his face and Raquel had to take a deep breath. “I said I didn’t want  _ Operations _ . I never said I didn’t like competition.”

“So you think two can’t play this game?” She questioned, circling around the table to look up at him, smiling widely when she noticed how quickly his chest was rising and falling from her mere closeness.

Nevertheless, the arrogant smile didn’t leave his face, and he leaned in to whisper in her ear. “I would love to play this game with you,  _ Inspectora _ .”

She pushed him away gently with one hand, glancing up at him with a satisfied smirk on her lips. “Watch out,  _ Professor _ . I play to win.”

With that, she walked past him and headed straight to her office. They had less than one hour to gather up in the conference room once again and now both of them had doubled the incentive they needed to dive straight into their research. When the clock turned 10:10 AM, the group had all gathered around the conference room table once again.

Otávio ordered that each of them presented their views shortly as he listened to each input with a bored expression, his chin propped up in his hand as his eyes gazed toward a fixed spot in the back of the room.

As soon as each one around the table had exposed their opinion on the matter, they had all begun discussing the deal at large. The group was divided among those who agreed with the acquisition and those who disagreed and Raquel was beginning to feel stressed out by how her coworkers constantly interrupted her or repeated something that she had just said as if they had said it themselves. Even Sergio was constantly countering every little thing she said.

And most of all, she was tired. So when Otávio’s phone rang and he looked down at the screen, she hoped for the love of God that he answered it.

“I have to take this call,” he said, getting up from his seat and walking out of the room to take a call.

“A breather, everyone,” Prieto said, standing up as well. “We’ll be back in five.”

This time, Raquel was the first to leave the room and went straight into her office. She sat on the small resting couch next to the window and massaged her temples, breathing in and out as she tried to ignore the headache that was threatening to come.

She heard a soft knock on her door and raised her eyes to find Sergio looking at her with a worried expression.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she lied.

Sergio glanced at her for a moment and decided to silently close the door behind him. He walked over to her, still keeping a safe distance from her, and tilted his head.

“Are you upset?” He tried again.

“I’m tired,” she replied firmly.

“No, you’re upset,” he said but when she only sighed in frustration, he tried to lighten the mood. “Is it because I’m winning?”

Raquel squinted her eyes at him. “How could you even know you’re winning when the referee hasn’t even whistled?”

He smirked. “I’m in the Knowledge department, remember?”

Unfortunately, Raquel was having none of his teasing. 

She got up, looking at him defiantly. “You know, you could try to hear me out when I have a proposal in there. Instead of constantly shooting me down.”

Sergio’s eyes widened at the statement. “I didn’t–”

“Yeah, you did,” she interrupted him. “And I’m used to it as culture in this company but… I’m not used to it from you.”

“I don’t get it,” he shook his head. “You were the one who said not to treat you different in here.”

Raquel chuckled in disbelief. “Oh, so that’s how you would treat me in here? Good to know.”

She walked over to her desk and started to organize the pieces of paper that were scattered all over her desk. Sergio watched her silently for a moment, combing his memory for whatever he might have said or done in the meeting that could have sparked this, but he fell short.

“Raquel, I–”

“You know what? Let’s not do this right now. I don’t want to argue,” she said in a calmer tone, turning around. “I just want to get this over with because I’m spending my penultimate day off stuck in this office when all I want is to be home.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but I wasn’t the one who asked you to come,” Sergio mindlessly replied.

She let out a hollow chortle. “Yeah. You weren’t,” she shook her head. “But next time you want to shut down every idea I try to get across the board, you try listening to it first.”

Raquel was ready to let this go, piling up the papers hurriedly to put them inside her folder, when he had the nerve to  _ scoff. _

“What?” She shot him a deadly glance.

He swallowed dry, shaking his head. “Nothing.”

“Say it,” she dropped the papers in her desk, raising her eyebrows demandingly.

“I think you’re mad because I’m better at this than you,” he blankly stated, hands in his pocket, looking at her with that arrogant smile once again.

Raquel frowned, walking up to him to stare at him intensely. “Who am I talking to right now? Sergio or the asshole that comes to work?” 

Sergio parted his lips to reply, but no sound came through his throat.

“Well, let’s talk again when you’re sure,” she completed, walking over to the door and opening it widely.

Sergio looked at her with a resigned expression before finally stepping out of her office.

When they reunited in the conference room, she didn’t look up at him once. Sergio watched her while she sat as far from him as possible, using a pencil to roll her golden hair into a bun. He looked down at his own notepad, nervously fidgeting with his silver pen.

“Mr. De Fonollosa?” Prieto called out when Otávio entered the room and took up his usual seat. “Should we resume?”

“I don’t want anymore yapping. We have one of two opposite paths to take,” Otávio looked around the table before letting out a sigh. “Let’s hear Sergio and Raquel’s pitches.”

Raquel glanced up from her papers with a surprised expression and then, finally, let her eyes travel to Sergio who seemed as surprised as she was.

“Raquel,” Prieto called her. “Do you want to start?”

“Sure,” Raquel nodded, licking her lips before glancing at her boss. “Sir, LGM is a fine conglomerate, but I’m confident that with our prestige and the right Latam acquisitions, we could be just as big – if not  _ bigger _ than they are. They only got where they are by chomping other companies, all of whom lost their autonomy after the buyout.”

She could’ve sworn she saw the corner of Otávio’s lips twitch upwards and nearly smiled herself, victoriously, when Sergio interceded.

“Yes, but you’re thinking about this from an acquisition stand point,” he stated matter-of-factly towards her before glancing back at his father. “I believe that we can channel their interest into a merger. That way we can retain our autonomy and integrate our products, our markets, our shares.”

“From an operational standpoint, this could very well alienate our audience  _ and  _ our shareholders,” Raquel countered, raising her eyebrows.

“For us to hold the space they have in Latam, that would take a lot of time and money,” he replied.

“A merger would also take a lot of time and money, Sergio,” she held back from rolling her eyes, shaking her head ever so slightly.

“I just think that since the opportunity has been presented to us, we can use the best strategies to hold it in our favor,” he explained.

“Yes, and what I’m saying is that maybe our best strategy is turning it down and purchasing other media companies in the territory,” Raquel bit her lower lip, frustrated that he simply couldn’t see her concerns. “A merger this big always means one of the two has to compromise more than the other.”

“And they are going to,” he guaranteed.

Raquel had to let out a chuckle. “How can you be so sure?”

“It’s a risk we have to take,” Sergio cockily shrugged.

“But are we really willing to risk everything that this company – that  _ you, _ ” she gestured at her boss. “Have built for the past decades?”

“Well, sometimes we have to take risks, don’t you think so, Raquel?” Sergio asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.

“You know what I think?” She tied her brows into a knot, pursing her lips. “I think you’re fixated on this idea simply because it’s being dangled in front of you as a challenge.”

“As opposed to your strategy – a shopping spree?” Sergio countered and she had to muffle a scoff while Suárez and Tamoyo chuckled. “I believe that if we capitalize on our distribution windows and our shares, we’d be more than able than back them into a 60/40 merger. Maybe even 70/30.”

Raquel shook her head in disbelief. “I–”

“Enough,” Ótavio interrupted her and gathered the room’s attention once again. “I’ve made my decision,” he paused, tapping his fingers on the top of the desk distractingly. “We’re merging.” 

Sergio smiled and shot a look at Raquel, who rolled her eyes and avoided his stare.

“Prepare the paperwork so we can present it to the board,” Otávio ordered, making Sergio turn his attention back at him. “And Sergio? I want you on top of this every step of the way.”

“Okay,” he nodded.

“When this deal is done, we’re going to relocate you to Buenos Aires so you can follow it through,” his father continued.

Sergio felt the floor shift under his feet. “Sorry?”

He was turning to look at Raquel’s reaction when Otávio glanced at him furiously. 

“Did I stutter?”

“No, sir,” Sergio replied in a low voice.

“Raquel?” Otávio called out and Sergio’s eyes searched for her face as well.

“Yes, sir?” She replied, an indecipherable expression in her face.

“You played your hand,” he conceded. Raquel’s shoulders tensed. Was Otávio de Fonollosa about to make a compliment? “Maybe next time you’ll play it better.”

Raquel put on her best poker face to give him an obedient nod before lowering her glance once again. Sergio was looking at her, worried, while Prieto thanked everyone and they left the conference room until, once again, there were only the two of them in there.

Sergio gathered his papers, piling them up in a neat stack and stopped in front of her in his way out of the conference room. She was so close he could smell her perfume, that mix of fresh and floral notes that he was engulfed in for the past weeks as if it were a drug and he, the addict.

“Raquel…” He looked down at her and, for the first time since they talked on the balcony the night of the party, she couldn’t read his expression. It was suddenly as if, no matter how close they were, how close they had gotten, there seemed to be a canyon of distance between them.

She bit her lip in an attempt to keep tears from escaping her glistening eyes.

“Congratulations,” she muttered, slightly nodding. And with a low voice, she whispered, “You won.”

Sergio felt like someone had plunged a hand into his chest and tightened their fist around his heart, crushing it into a soft mush. 

She turned around, her heels clicking on the floor as she left him alone in the room.

She was right. He won the game.

So why did it feel like he had just lost everything?


	14. Quédate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> First of all, I am so sorry for the delay in the last chapter of this story!! Things have been a little hard lately and on top of everything that has been happening in the world, I have been dealing with some personal stuff and my anxiety flaring up again. So it took me some time to get to a place where I could think about writing this chapter, even more to write something that I felt was what you guys deserved to read. So, in conclusion, I'm sorry for taking so long, but I wanted to do it nicely for you :)
> 
> Secondly, I want to take a moment to thank all of you deeply for your lovely feedback!! It's been so wonderful to see how you've felt about this story and this AU and I'm so so so thankful to every single comment, message and kudos you send this way. I'll take some time to answer every comment I haven't gotten to soon.
> 
> Lastly, since I'm still getting my life in order, I just wanted to let y'all know I deactived my Twitter for a bit, just until I get into a better headspace. Sorry to everyone I didn't reply lately, please feel hugged and appreciated and I'll be back as soon as I can <3
> 
> In the meantime, I'll be here in AO3, reading the wonderful stories our talented fandom comes up with and getting my energies up for maybe a third story? ;)
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoy it! I'm looking forward to reading what you think!!

_January 17th, 5:21 PM_

Five days.

One hundred and twenty four hours and eighteen minutes.

That’s how long Sergio hadn’t talked to Raquel. Since the end of the extraordinary meeting on Saturday, to be exact. He had tried calling and texting on Sunday, but she didn’t reply. On Monday, when he saw her at work, he had to hold back from following her to her office. She had made herself clear - she didn’t want to talk to him. He needed to respect that, as hard as it was.

However, it was already Thursday and she was still to recognize his existence in or outside of the office. There hadn’t been one day that went by that he didn’t think about her during every one of his waking moments, or a night where he didn’t dream about her as he closed his eyes. To say that he missed her was an understatement. He was at a complete loss of what to do, of how to even begin making amends.

Now that he had time to think, he understood. He understood why she was mad, why she was retreating away from him, why she was shutting him out. He deserved it. He absolutely deserved it. It didn’t make any easier that he couldn’t fully understand _why_ he had done it. Why had he been an asshole? Why was it more important to put forth his idea for the company over any means necessary rather than preserve one of the most valuable connections he ever had?

Spending the past few days studying LGM’s contracts was not helping either. Some of their clauses were ironclad and even if he was still certain that a merger could be a good business strategy, Raquel’s knowledge of the operation branch of the company would definitely come in handy if he wanted to do this right.

Which was why he was pacing around the hallway for the past twenty minutes, nervously fidgeting with his cufflinks as he attempted to steady his nerves. Finally, he inhaled deeply and knocked on her door.

“Come on in,” he heard her say from the other side. 

He slowly opened the door to find her with a preoccupied expression as she flipped through pages in what looked like a sales report. Sergio caught the exact moment she raised her glance from the paperwork in front of her to see him and he could swear her breath hitched.

He looked at her nervously, his hand still glued to the doorknob as if he needed something to lean on and steady his posture. 

She raised her eyebrows at him expectantly. “Yes?”

“Can we talk?” He asked, his voice coming out hoarse and tired.

She studied him for a moment. “Is it work related?”

“It is.”

Raquel nodded, marking the page she was going through with a paper weight and adjusting herself on her chair as Sergio closed the door behind him and made his way towards her desk.

He looked at her nervously, a lump forming on his throat while his mind quickly raced from one thought to the next. Her stare was different than he would have expected. Since she had been avoiding him all week, he had expected her gaze to be cold and distant, but the way she looked at him - her lips pursed and her brows flexed in anguish… She looked hurt.

And it multiplied Sergio’s guilt by a thousand times.

He adjusted his glasses nervously. “May I just say something first?”

She clenched her jaw, shrugging slightly.

“I am sorry,” he managed to get out of his lips, his voice dripping with sadness.

Raquel felt something stir inside her armor, but pushed it away immediately.

“I-”

“Sergio,” she interrupted him and this time he could swear she sounded an inch warmer. “You wanted to talk about work.”

He nodded, quietly, offering her the stapled papers in his hand. “Um, could you… could you look at these?”

She looked at the papers and clicked her tongue, letting out a sigh while she took the papers from him. She turned them around to find a contract - the contract for their acquiral to be exact. LGM must have sent them over the weekend for their team to review, which still didn’t explain why Sergio was having her take a look at it.

“I assume our acting COO has looked into this,” she blankly stated, arching her eyebrows at him. “Why are you giving it to me?”

“Tejada is in Otávio’s office right now discussing his retirement,” he replied, glancing at her knowingly. Raquel’s lips parted and she looked down at the contract again. “Can you read those highlighted parts?”

She shifted herself on the chair and started going through the marked clauses and terms Sergio had already highlighted in yellow, green, blue and orange. Her brow tied into a knot as she passed the pages along, her lips still parted in shock and outrage at every marked section.

“Shit,” she hissed, moving further along the pages of the apparently ironclad contract. “These clauses are bullshit,” she let out a hollow laughter and looked up at him, pointing her index finger at the document. “This could kill us.”

“Yeah,” he desperately nodded.

Raquel looked down and went to the next page to find another problematic section of the contract. She glanced up at him again and this time her expression read pure consternation.

“They’re aiming for a leveraged buyout,” she concluded.

Sergio nodded, adjusting the sleeves of his shirt. “You were right.”

She let go of the papers and leaned back on the chair, crossing her arms in front of her defensively. “What did you just say?”

A small sigh left his lips as he swallowed dry under her gaze. “I said… you were right.”

“Okay. So?” She lifted her eyebrows, shaking her head sideways. When he failed to provide her with an answer, she pressured him further. “I’m listening.”

He ran his tongue over his lips nervously. “I have a plan… It could get us the merger but… I’m going to need your help.”

Raquel’s expression broke into a presumptuous smile. “And why would I want to help you?”

“Raquel, I…” Sergio finally sat down on the chair in front of her, letting his arms rest on his knees, expressing his defeat. “I’m sorry. I really am. I was an asshole and I totally deserve this, but you don’t,” he explained. “The company doesn’t. And I am pretty sure that my plan can get you the COO position. Not that you need my help or- I just mean- I think it can be a good thing for you.”

“It can be a good thing for me to help you,” she rephrased his sentence, raising her eyebrows amusingly. 

Sergio reluctantly nodded. “Raquel… I really need you.”

She observed him quietly for what felt like an eternity. Her forehead still creased, but her demeanour somehow more at ease with his presence. She looked down at the contract and then back up at him and that’s what convinced her. He looked so lost. So guilt-ridden. So _sorry_. They were far from okay, but right now, he needed her. Like she needed him after her nightmare in Coruña.

“Okay,” she finally replied, uncrossing her arms and giving him the contract back.

“Okay?” Sergio echoed, taking the document from her hands and glancing at her expectantly.

She rolled her eyes. “When is your meeting with Otávio?”

“Tomorrow, 2 PM,” he replied, holding onto the papers in his hand anxiously.

Raquel sighed deeply. “We’re gonna have to pull an all nighter for this, huh?”

“I think so, yes,” he grimaced. 

She shook her head and shot him a judging glare. “I hate you.” 

Sergio adjusted his glasses up his nose, straightening his posture. Even through her serious tone, he could tell she didn’t really mean it, so he took it in stride.

“I deserve that.”

“You’re paying for the take out,” she added. 

“Whatever you choose,” he raised both hands, a smile starting to form on his lips.

“And beer,” she continued. “And my Uber home.”

“Done and done,” he agreed.

“Fine,” she growled, looking at the clock in her phone screen. “Just… give me half an hour to get through these reports and we’ll start.”

“Of course,” he nodded, getting up from her chair and walking over to the door, but before he could reach the door knob, he looked back at her. “Raquel?” 

She glanced up from the papers once again, her expression softened, and he offered her a grateful smile. 

“Thank you.”

* * *

_January 18th, 1:43 AM_

Raquel was starting to feel a little dizzy from her headache.

She had spent the last hours working endlessly. The entire floor was empty with the exception of her office, where she and Sergio had sprawled out their paperwork, computers and notebooks on the carpet.

She took a moment to exhale, twisting and turning her neck that already appeared compromised by the stress and time dedicated to this cause. They had only stopped around seven when dinner arrived and, as of now, Sergio was picking up their second take out from the lobby.

Raquel hadn’t allowed herself to think about him fondly for the past few days, as she was still hurt from how things turned out on Saturday, but if a small part of her had to admit it, to herself if not to anyone else, she was heartbroken. Not only because he had been an idiotic asshole, but because he had managed to get himself dispatched to Buenos Aires. An entire fucking ocean away. An entire different continent.

She didn’t want to admit it, because she didn’t want him to go.

She had been enjoying so thoroughly the little snippets of life with him. The date nights when he would take her out to restaurants and, in one rare, drunk instance, to a karaoke bar. The sleepover days where he’d stay at her place and would take part in their family activities in the following day. The way Paula would look up to him, eyes shining bright, whenever he would go into a lengthy explanation about _anything_ she asked him.

Even though she was mad at him, there wasn’t one night when she laid her head in her pillow that she didn’t miss having him next to her, laying kisses on her neck and brushing his beard against her skin, lulling her to sleep.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard his footsteps on the hallway and he walked through the door with a large paper brown bag in one hand and a plastic bag in the other.

“Here’s your second dinner,” he announced, offering her the paper bag.

“Joder, thank God,” she took it from him, quickly managing to pull out the takeout dish and pulling off the lid. “I was so fucking hungry.”

Sergio offered her a pair of chopsticks and took the other one in his hand, analyzing them carefully as Raquel promptly devoured her first sushi.

“Did you know the Chinese term for chopsticks is a semantic-phonetic compound that means ‘quick’ and ‘bamboo’?” He voiced out matter-of-factly, adjusting the hashi in his hand.

She looked up at him, her brow tied into a knot, as she swallowed. 

“The amount of information you can hold in your mind is astounding,” she replied, shaking her head and letting out a dry chuckle.

He couldn’t help but smile. “Beer?”

“Please.”

Sergio passed her a bottle from the plastic bag and opened another one for him. She alternated between stealing another piece of sushi or sashimi from the tray, drinking a gulp of her beer and going over the marked papers in front of her.

When they finished eating, Sergio got up to throw away the takeout box and empty beer bottles and sat again on the floor next to her, letting out a sigh. For a moment, things almost felt normal again. Like the tension between them had dissipated.

“So where are you at?” He asked.

Raquel looked up at him. “I’ve actually just finished revising the contract and the proposal.”

“Really?”

“I _am_ efficient at my job, Sergio,” she raised her eyebrows at him.

And there it was again. The tension.

“I didn’t mean- I didn’t mean you weren’t,” he replied, defeat dripping through his voice.

“Yes, you did,” she firmly said. “Just not right now.”

Sergio felt the weight of his past actions on his shoulders once again. He approached her on the carpet, bringing a hand to cover hers.

“Raquel…”

“Please don’t,” she shook her head, retracting her hand from his touch.

“Please let me?” He pleaded, his brows framing his eyes rather pitifully. “I don’t know what came over me. I really don’t.” 

He exhaled, trying to look for the words to explain himself.

“This is why I normally don’t interact with people, I just suck at it tremendously. And when I come to work, it’s like I put on this cape,” he continued. “I act like the men around me to be seen differently. Or, rather, in the same light. And the reality is the men around me are deeply unpleasant.”

Raquel twitched her eyebrows. “That’s an understatement.”

“Raquel, I’m… a misanthrope. Other than Andrés, you’re the first person I’ve ever been able to feel myself be open with,” he said, tilting his head to glance at her properly. “I don’t know how to do this. How to be with someone…”

He trailed off, confused, unsure of how to explain the multitude of feelings running through his head and chest.

“Look... I get it,” she answered. “I _know_ you didn’t mean the things you said, but you still said them. And it still hurt me. Because you know my fucking Achilles heel is that I’m not taken seriously in here.”

“I know. And I am truly sorry,” he looked at her hoping that she could see it. 

She gazed into his eyes and he saw her chest rise and fall repeatedly, so he took it as a chance to continue. 

“I’ll say it how many times you want to hear it, because I mean it,” he assured her. “And for what is worth, I think you are the most competent person in this company. It's the reason why you were transferred from Barcelona in the first place. And I know this company has a sexist culture and I want to help you change that and- I know, I know you don’t _need_ my help, but I want to.”

“I know,” she nodded reluctantly. Then, his words echoed in her mind. “What do you mean that's why I was transferred?”

“Um...” Sergio gulped. “I...”

“Sergio.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “Part of my daily job is to keep an eye on our resources. People, stocks, numbers, information. When you were hired... Shit, Raquel, our numbers went up two months after you joined us. Your reports were spotless.”

“You're the reason I got promoted to director,” she said, remembering how she had gotten transferred to Madrid seemingly out of nowhere.

“No,” he shook his head. “You're the reason you got promoted. I just showed them the numbers.”

There was a moment of silence between them and, when he tried to hold her hand again, she didn’t dodge from his touch. Instead, she let out a loud sigh.

“Thank you for helping me with this,” he said, rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand.

Raquel shook her head. She could already feel herself giving into him.

“Maybe if you had heard my concerns instead of dismissing them… We wouldn’t be working so late right now,” she provoked, shooting him a half-teasing, half-serious glare.

“But then I wouldn’t be able to do this,” he barely whispered, leaning in and kissing her softly.

When he pulled away, he kept his lips hovering over hers, his eyes closed and head tilted, waiting– _hoping_ that she would kiss him back.

Raquel, on the other hand, had her eyes barely open, her brows furrowed, gazing at him as she felt as if a grip was tightened around her heart. She was dizzy, there was a ringing in her ear, her chest ached and when she lowered her lips onto his, it was as if she couldn’t feel or think about anything else but him.

She brought a hand to his hair, pulling him further against her, and deepened the kiss immediately. She had missed this, she had missed _him_ like crazy.

Without skipping a beat and barely distancing their lips from one another, she raised herself from the carpet and sat on his lap, straddling him and quickly removing his glasses in the process. She tugged his hair lightly as he began trailing kisses down her neck and unzipping her skirt.

He ran his hands through the silky fabric of her blouse, pulling it from under her skirt and removing it from her chest completely, alternating between plantings kisses, trailing his tongue over the rim of her lace bra and marking her skin with his teeth.

Raquel moaned, attempting to unbutton his shirt as quickly as she could and stripping him off of it, popping a couple of buttons in the process. She threw his shirt over his shoulder and lowered onto him, pressing herself onto the bulge in his pants.

Sergio brought his hands to her back, opening her bra and releasing her from it, taking in one nipple into his mouth and then the other, licking, nibbling and sucking as she marked him, dragging her fingernails down his back.

Somehow, he managed to hold her on his lap as he kneeled on the floor, pushing away the scattered papers and lowering her down on the carpet to lie on top of her. She reeled him in for another kiss as she unbuckled his belt and opened his pants, desperate to feel him.

But he pulled away, biting her lower lip, and she let out a whimper.

He traced his lips down her neck, ran his beard in between her breasts and slowly pulled off his skirt and underwear down her legs, running his fingertips down her legs as he managed to take them off.

He leaned in between her legs, his beard grazing her inner thighs, and she let out an involuntary sigh when he breathed against her center.

She parted her lips to say something, but he closed his mouth on her and she forgot every word in the Spanish language – all that came out of her throat was a hoarse moan.

He ran his tongue on her desperately, like he thought he would never get to taste her again, and just when he nibbled her throbbing clit, he pressed his two fingers inside her, making her arch her back and let out a load moan, grabbing his hair.

Sergio continued stimulating her until her breaths became shallow and scarce, then he got on his knees, dropped down his pants and underwear and got himself on top of her again.

Raquel slid a leg around his waist, giving him an opening to position himself in her entrance and he brought a hand to cup her cheek, making her gaze into his eyes as he entered her in slow motion.

When he was deep inside her, she draped an arm around his shoulders and bit her lower lip in anxious agony.

“I missed you so fucking much,” he whispered, beginning to thrust inside her.

She simply moaned, rolling her hips against his over and over again. He kept plunging into her, and when she dug her fingernails on his shoulder, he brought his hand between them, drawing circles around her clit until she cried out his name and he followed her into the darkness, her name leaving his lips like a prayer.

They stood still for what felt like an eternity as they regained their breaths. He parted from her slowly and leaned in, planting a delicate kiss on her lips.

She placed a hand on his chest and gently pushed him away. He looked at her with a question in his eyes, still unable to mutter anything.

Raquel sat up quickly, her head spinning. “We shouldn’t have done this.”

She got up, putting on her underwear as he watched her, utterly confused, but managed to pull up his pants and underwear as he sat up.

“Raquel, I–”

“Sergio,” she turned her head to look at him as she put on her bra. “Don’t make this harder than it already is. Please.”

She put on her blouse, while he sat on the carpet looking at her with a creased forehead.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

She let out a hollow chuckle. “You’re leaving. To another continent,” she finished adjusting her blouse as quickly as she could. 

She looked around the floor for her skirt and, upon finally finding it, put it on as he stared at her, lips parted, as if he was trying to come up with the guts to tell her something.

Raquel took a deep breath and shook her head. 

“Look… This… us…? It was good while it lasted. Let’s leave it at that,” she picked up her phone and purse and licked her lips as she looked down at him. 

He looked utterly lost and she tried not to stare at him for too long or she would regret it instantly.

“I should go. I’ll see you tomorrow for the meeting,” she bit her lower lip, her eyebrows curved inwards as she reached for the door. “Good night.”

* * *

_January 18th, 2:21 PM_

Otávio had been silent for three full minutes now.

Sergio and Raquel sat across from his desk, both quietly and nervously waiting for his response as he looked down at their written proposal and budget with a stoic expression.

He put down the papers on the desk in front of him and looked at them.

“This is not what I asked for.”

“I… I know,” Sergio gulped. “But after revising the contracts LGM sent us, I discussed it with Raquel and… we decided this was the safest course of action for the company.”

“You decided?” Otávio’s brows furrowed. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m the CEO of this company.”

Raquel tried to intervene. “Sir, I think Sergio was only trying to-”

Otávio raised a hand and Raquel stopped herself from continuing her sentence.

He looked at both of them sternly. “The attempted LBO cannot come out.”

“We put in a confidential clause in the new contract,” Raquel replied.

“And you’ll see this through?” Otávio asked.

“Yes, sir,” she affirmed.

Sergio, on the other hand, raised his index finger.

“On one condition,” he paused to inhale deeply. “I’m not relocating. I’ve attached an operational budget for the merger to the proposal. Raquel and I will go to Buenos Aires and handle in person everything that needs to be handled. But I’m staying here.”

Raquel glanced at Sergio, surprised. This was news to her. They hadn’t discussed any of this last night. She wanted to smack him in the head for keeping this from her, but she could see from his entire demeanour that facing his surrogate father like that took a toll on him.

Her eyes traveled back to her boss, who had been staring at Sergio with intensity.

Then, out of nowhere, Otávio chuckled and rolled his eyes.

And, with a wave of his hand, apparently approved of his adopted son’s requests and turned his gaze back to the woman in front of him, regaining his serious expression. 

“Ms. Murillo,” he called out, taking a moment to study her. “I’d like you to go to the HR department first thing on Monday.”

“Of course,” Raquel swallowed dry. “Um… May I ask why?”

“I can’t have a director handling our business like this,” the older man shook his head, letting out a sigh and leaning back on his chair. “I’m going to recommend you for the COO position.”

“You-” She trailed off, taking a moment to regain her posture and offer him a professional smile and nod. “Thank you, sir. You will not regret it.”

“I sure hope not,” he raised his eyebrows, pointing to the proposal in his desk. “I’ll take this to the board,” he said. Then, he looked up at them both, unsure of why they were still sitting in front of him. “You’re dismissed now.”

They got up from their chairs and left his office quickly and, upon closing the door behind him, Sergio looked at Raquel with a large smile.

“Congratulations, Chief Operations Officer.”

She couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Did that really just happen?”

“It sure did,” he breathed out, nodding.

“I’m glad I had a witness or I’d think I was hallucinating,” she chuckled and looked at him. 

For a second, she forgot how things were between the two of them. And in that brief second, all she wanted to do was throw her arms around his neck and kiss him endlessly. But it only lasted for that long, a small, fleeting second, and she was suddenly reminded of everything.

Sergio must have seen her expressions change, because he put his hands deep in his pockets and looked down at his shoes timidly.

“Let me buy you a drink,” he offered, glancing at her from under his lashes. Her lips parted hesitantly. “So we can celebrate, please.”

She shook her head.

“It’s two o’clock in the afternoon, Sergio,” she replied matter-of-factly.

“So?” He shrugged, smiling slyly. “You’re the new COO. You can do whatever the hell you want whenever you want.”

She wanted to say no. She wanted to with all of her might.

Instead, she rolled her eyes and replied, “Okay. But you’re buying.”

* * *

_January 18th, 2:42 PM_

It had taken them nearly ten minutes to walk from the office to a bar Sergio had suggested, on the lobby of a downtown hotel. During their walk, they had already exhausted the theme of Otávio and their meeting, as well as Raquel’s promotion, and now that they were sitting next to each other on the bar stools sipping on their drinks, there was nothing else to do but address the elephant in the room.

“Sergio…”

He looked at her expectantly, but didn’t dare to say anything before she finished her sentence.

“Why didn’t you say anything last night? About Buenos Aires?” She asked, her interrogative gaze upon him.

“I-I…” He shot her an apologetic look. “I didn't know if it was going to work.”

She sighed, throwing her hair behind her shoulder. If she hadn’t fled, if she hadn’t pushed him away… She downed her drink in one large gulp and motioned for the bartender to bring her another one.

“Raquel…” He called her out, seeking her gaze.

When she finally looked at him again, she could feel her own expression soften.

“Listen…” He licked his lips, searching for the words that he had rehearsed so many times in his head over the last few days. “I know I messed up. I know you deserve better. I want to be better. Those days with you in Coruña... Every second I've spent with you and your family. I want that. I want all of that.”

She felt her chest rise, her heart beating erratically.

“I’m… I’m quite old and you’re my first love.”

She tilted her head, frowning at him. “Why would you say that?”

He raised his shoulders and offered her an exasperated look. “It’s true.”

The bartender approached them, leaving a drink in front of her, and she waited for him to distance himself so she could glance back at Sergio and let out a sigh.

Then, she stretched her arm to place her hand on his forearm and his breath hitched. She caressed him with her thumb through the fabric of his shirt and he froze, frightened that with any sudden movement he could scare her away.

“Damn, Sergio,” she shook her head. “I wanted to be mad at you for a little longer.”

“I don’t. I hate it,” he admitted seriously and she let out a chuckle, trying to refrain the tears that were glistening in her eyes.

He must have noticed it too, because he was suddenly on his feet, standing inches away from her. He hesitantly raised a hand to put a strand of her hair behind her ear, but didn’t retreat. He ran the back of his fingers through her cheek and she closed her eyes at his touch, so he turned his palm up to cuddle the side of her face and she leaned against it, closing her eyes.

“I missed you so much,” he whispered, eyes sharply focused on her. 

“I missed you too,” Raquel lazily opened her eyelids again and slowly, achingly slowly, she closed the distance between them, circling her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a soft, gentle kiss in which she poured all of her affection.

He surrendered instantly, sprawling a hand on her back and pulling her against him. He couldn’t bare to stay away from her any further, he needed her so much it hurt physically, like she was oxygen and he had been gasping for air.

After a moment, she delicately pushed him away to look him in the eyes again.

“Did you really mean that?” She asked, her fingers playing with the collar of his shirt. “Are you- are you in love with me?”

He snorted, incredulous that she still had any doubt. “Hopelessly.”

She ran her thumb against his cheek and kissed him again, hungrily, forgetting for a moment that they were in a public setting.

When she parted from him, both of them breathless, he smiled.

“You know… It’s pretty wild to me that you would’ve been sad if I had been transferred,” he teased. “Since… we’re not _officially_ anything.”

“Oh?” She raised her eyebrows at him, tilting her head sideways. “You think you’re in a position to go _there_?”

He laughed, pulling her even further against him as she shook her head with a smile on her face. He placed a kiss on her lips, and then another one, and another one.

Then, he craned his neck to look at her softly.

“Can I ask you something?”

She furrowed her brows at him suspiciously.

“If… I had indeed been transferred,” he gulped nervously. “What would you have done? Just… just to be clear, you know.”

“To be clear…” She sighed, tugging at his hair. “If you had been transferred I would go to Buenos Aires to personally drag you back by your guts.”

“Vivid image,” he smiled smugly. “Very romantic.”

“Shut up,” she laughed.

“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” he resolved. “As long as you stay with me.”

“Or as long as the company pays for our shared travels to Argentina?” She completed with a smile and he chuckled. “Estoy contigo, Sergio.”

“I want you, Raquel. All of you,” he confessed in a slur. “I want to be with you, I want the good, the bad and everything in between.”

She breathed out. This was everything she had told him from the start that she wasn’t after, but she would be lying - both to him and to herself - if she didn’t admit this was exactly what she wanted. Him. Them. This.

So instead of denying it further, she just nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?” He grinned. “So… Can I tell Paula you’re my girlfriend now?”

Raquel chuckled. “You can.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Well… In that case,” he said, sitting back on the stool next to her. “Finish your drink. I want to take my girlfriend upstairs to celebrate further.”

She looked at him provocatively and bit her lower lip. “Vale.”

“Vale.” 

* * *

_October 21st, 11:37 PM_

**_Three years later_ **

“No,” the word rolled out of Raquel’s lips in a resolute, final tone.

“But you haven’t even let me finish.”

“Sergio, the answer is no.”

“Just hear me out.”

“I don’t want to do this right now. I’m tired,” she picked up two pillows from the bed and placed them in one of the chairs across from it.

“Then at least listen to what I have to say,” Sergio pleaded, following her cue and picking up two other pillows, placing them on the chair, only to come back to the side of the bed. “That is all I’m asking.”

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes and they pulled the covers down at the same time, each from their side of the bed. Their movements were rhythmically coordinated, like a dance where they had learned to anticipate each other’s twists and turns.

“Okay,” he sat on the bed, turning to her. “So… I know you said no megalomaniac gifts this year,” Raquel raised an eyebrow at him at that point, clearly anticipating what he was about to say was anything _but_ a megalomaniac gift. “But a few months ago I asked her what was her dream wish and–”

“ _Dream_ wish! That’s why it’s called a _dream wish_ , Sergio,” she interrupted.

Raquel took a lotion from her nightstand and sat in bed, splashing some of the liquid into her hands, spreading the product on her legs.

“Well, you do always tell her that dreams can come true,” he reasoned and she scoffed, splashing more lotion in her hands and spreading it on her arms.

He was about to continue, when she shot him an accusing glare.

“Oh my God,” she exclaimed. Sergio froze. “You’ve already set everything up, haven’t you?”

He parted his lips, looking around the room for the words to explain himself to her, but when he let his eyes fall back on her, her stern gaze made him confess immediately.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” he sighed. “Yes.”

Raquel shook her head, trying to fight back a smile. The more she pretended to be mad at him, the more amused he made her.

She shifted in bed, rolling her eyes, and pulled him by the collar of his shirt. “I thought we agreed, no more surprise gifts…”

“But this one is for you too!” He attempted, cupping her face with one hand and caressing her cheek with his thumb. “For all of us, really.”

“Okay. You got me,” she smirked, pulling away from him to put away the lotion bottle and turning back around, sitting with her legs crossed. “What is it?”

Sergio let out an exhale, his gaze falling to the sheets. “A weekend in Disneyland Paris…”

“A weekend in–” Raquel echoed, exasperated. She scoffed, shaking her head sideways and she glanced up at him, a soft smile on her lips. “You are going to spoil her rotten.”

“It’s not only her I want to spoil,” he teased, pulling her in for a kiss. She welcomed his lips, deepening the kiss slowly before parting from him, her nose brushing softly against his.

“This is a low blow,” she murmured, her lips grazing on top of his.

Sergio smiled, circling his arms around her and throwing her in the bed as Raquel let out a heartfelt giggle.

“You know what they say about Paris…” He shrugged, kissing her jawline gently.

She hummed. “Remind me?”

“Um, it’s the city of liberty…” He placed a kiss under her earlobe before gazing at her. She looked at him with a feigned serious expression. He smiled, defeated. “And love…”

Raquel craned her neck and laughed. “Go on…”

“I got a package for all four of us and at night Mariví could stay with Paula so we can, um, explore the city,” he whispered, caressing her waist with the tips of his fingers.

She nodded, biting her lower lip. “Seems to me like you already have everything sorted out.”

“Yes, all I need is a positive answer from the love of my life,” he grinned, his eyes nearly disappearing behind his glasses.

“Really?” Raquel chuckled, bringing her hand behind his head to caress his hair. 

“Come on, _mi amor_ ,” he muttered. “You have been working far too much these past couple of months,” he reasoned, tilting his head to add: “Plus, Paula only turns eight once.”

“She has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?”

“Both of you do,” Sergio planted a soft kiss on her lips.

Raquel smiled as she gazed into his brown eyes. God, she loved him.

“We’ll go,” she muttered in a low voice.

“We will?” He widened his eyes, a grin crowning his lips.

She nodded. “We will.”

“You…” He leaned in to place another kiss on her cheek. “Are the greatest,” and another one on her neck.

“I really am,” she concurred, tugging at his hair to bring his lips to her. “Now come here.”

However, Sergio leaned back slightly, arching his eyebrows at her. “I thought you were tired?”

She smiled seductively. “For my husband? Never.”

He finally closed the distance between them, his lips grazing against hers. “Will I ever get used to hear you say that?”

“You better,” she whispered, her chest rising and falling with anticipation.

“I love you… Mi mujer,” he smiled.

“I love you too, mi gilipollas,” she chortled.

“Not fair.”

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

Sergio obliged, kissing her so gently Raquel felt she could burst. She opened her eyes to gaze up at him and she wondered if the rest of the people in the world were as lucky, to find a love like this, to find this sense of happiness. Then he gazed into her eyes and she thought back to that one fateful night in Coruña when she ended up in his bed. And in that moment, she had never been so grateful.

**Author's Note:**

> I deeply appreciate your kudos and I love your comments even more <3


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